SAP Integrated Business Planning, add-in for Microsoft Excel Feature Overview and End-User Guide Based on the Excel Add-In Version 2308.2.0 Product Management, SAP August, 2023 PUBLIC About this document The SAP Integrated Business Planning, add-in for Microsoft Excel (short: Excel add-in) is one of the key access points to key figures and master data that is stored in the SAP IBP backend. It is one of the main user interfaces for the end users of SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP). The following slides aim to provide an overview of the key features and concepts of the Excel addin and are intended for end users. The presentation can be used, for example, for end user training during an implementation project. Please note that the screenshots and examples are based on test sample planning views and a test data set. The planning view templates and planning views can look different in your case due to custom formatting, branding, and additional VBA code that you have embedded, as well as depending on the different versions of the Excel add-in. Public 2 What’s New in 2308.2.0 • Resetting changes in your planning view (pages 182 – 184) • All versions and all scenarios can be selected for alerts (pages 410 – 411) • Enhancements for working offline (page 329) • Changed handling of attribute-based filters • Grouping of dimensions for setting up formatting rules (page 152) • Type-Ahead Value Help for Subnetwork Selection • Clearing the cache of Microsoft Edge WebView2 (page 18) • Changed Behavior for Canceling Simulations For more information, see SAP Help Portal at What’s New in 2308. Public 3 Agenda (1) 1) Introduction 6) Visualization of key figure editability 2) How to log on to SAP Integrated Business Planning using the Excel add-in 7) Time-based disaggregation of partially editable child nodes 3) How to create planning views 8) How to work with planning views ▪ Basic Settings ▪ Editing planning views − Workbook settings ▪ Quick edit view & quick filter − Time settings − Attribute settings ▪ Changing key figure values interactively − Key figure settings ▪ Simulation mode / interactive planning − Defining the layout ▪ Versions − Filter settings − Adding a new worksheet ▪ Scenarios − Working with multiple workbooks ▪ Ad-hoc drill down − Refreshing the planning view ▪ Fixing key figure values ▪ Advanced Settings ▪ Planning notes − Time-based totals and flexible time axis − ▪ Adding own key figures (local members) Attribute-based totals & subtotals − Attribute value “(None)”, strong, and light matches − Workbook filter − Working with attribute-based filters − Sorting attribute values − − How to save key figure data in a planning view ▪ Read and write permissions and rejection of changes 10) Change history views Sorting based on key figure values 11) Working offline with planning views Scrolling to current time period 12) Sharing planning views with non-SAP IBP users 13) Application jobs in the Excel add-in 14) Master data maintenance 4) Saving planning views as templates and favorites 5) SAP IBP Formatting Sheet Public 9) ▪ Single master data maintenance ▪ Master data workbook 4 Agenda (2) 15) Planning object maintenance 16) Alert key figures and alert dashboard 17) Task management 18) Navigation to the Web UI 19) Help, user settings, and more in the About area 20) Logging off and troubleshooting disabled Excel add-ins Public 5 1) Introduction Planning in Microsoft Excel for professional planners • Real-time access to your SAP IBP system and data, directly in Microsoft Excel • Create custom planning views easily • Visualize, analyze, and adapt your master data and time series data • Run planning operators in simulation mode for ad-hoc what-if analysis and create your own scenarios • Use local key figures to quickly use your custom Excel formulas on SAP IBP data • Use own VBA coding to further finetune planning views and planner interaction Public 7 Flexible planning view definition Native Microsoft Excel capabilities, such as charts and dropdowns, including VBA coding Data from SAP IBP database Review and change data online and offline Public Define planning view for the task at hand Save planning view as template or favorite Use formatting to indicate what actions a user can take 8 Some key facts about the Excel add-in • The Excel add-in does not run in the SAP Cloud (which SAP Integrated Business Planning does), but needs to be installed on the PCs of the individual users, or needs to be made available to the users in a Citrix environment at the customer. The customer is responsible for upgrading the add-in versions for the individual users. • The upgrade of the SAP IBP system to the newest version does not require that you install the new version of the Excel add-in. You can decide to install it whenever you wish to start using its new features. However, if you do install the newest version, please note that .NET 6 Desktop Runtime and Microsoft Edge WebView2 Runtime are required. • New features, such as value-based sorting, are only available as of the respective Excel add-in version. • The Excel add-in versions are upward compatible. This means that they can be used with higher releases of SAP IBP. However, please note that if an SAP IBP system is still on version n-1, for example, 2211, and the newest Excel add-in version n, for example, 2302.2.0 is used to log on to the system, some functions might not work as they did before. For this reason, make sure that your SAP IBP productive system is upgraded before you start using the newest Excel add-in version productively. • For more information about the supported versions of the Excel add-in, see SAP Note 2394311 (Version information for the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel) at https://me.sap.com/#/notes/2394311. • SAP IBP and the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel are released with certain known restrictions in functionality. For more information, see the respective Release Restriction Note. You can find the relevant version of the note on the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com, under Use > Application Help for SAP IBP for Supply Chain > SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain > Version. Public 9 Prerequisites for working with the Excel add-in • User must have the Excel add-in installed (or have access to it via Citrix). • User’s PC must be connected to the Internet. • User must have a user in the SAP IBP system. • User must have at least basic authorization to view data in the Excel add-in. • SAP IBP backend system must be up and running. • Planning area must be configured and active. Public 10 Downloading the Excel add-in • Customers can download the Excel add-in in the software download area of the SAP Support Portal at https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/softwarecenter. Please use the search term SAP IBP Excel Add-On. • The download requires an S-user with the necessary authorization. If the download is not possible, please contact your company’s S-user administrator. • If SAP delivers a fix for the Excel add-in between two SAP IBP releases (based on a customer ticket, for example), a new add-in version is generated that needs to be installed on the customer’s side. Your IT department usually provides you with the installation file, or even installation package, and pushes these installations to your local PC. For more information, see the following SAP Notes: • Silent installation/uninstallation SAP Note 2135948 at https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2135948 • How to distribute the add-in to user’s notebooks SAP Note 2114654 at https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2114654 • Add-in with proxy server SAP Note 2092187 at https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2092187 Public 11 Excel add-in on a MacBook and mobile devices • The Excel add-in can run on a MacBook. The prerequisite is that a virtual machine (VM) is setup and that a Windows and Office environment is installed on the VM. Then you can install the Excel add-in on that VM as usual. • The Excel add-in can be installed on Microsoft Surface devices. • You cannot install the Excel add-in on a smartphone or tablet. Public 12 2) How to Log on to SAP IBP Using the Excel Add-In Logon If the Excel add-in is installed correctly, you find a new entry in the Microsoft Excel ribbon, called SAP IBP. As a first step, you need to log on to the SAP IBP backend by clicking Log On. Public • The Log on to SAP IBP dialog appears. Usually, your administrator distributes the relevant connection details and you can directly select one of the connections and click Log On. • If no connection has been preset by your administrator, follow the steps on the next pages to set up a connection manually. • You can save multiple connections to different systems and planning areas. • In the dropdown menu you’ll find the available connections. 14 Setting up a connection (1) Step 1: Open the Connection Manager To set up a new connection click Public to open the Connection Manager Then click Create Connection. 15 Setting up a connection (2) Step 2: Enter the connection details Enter a free text name, the server URL (provided by your administrator), and either enter the planning area name directly or click the … (Select a planning area) button to get a list of planning areas available for this system. DEFAULT represents the default planning area that you can define in the SAP Fiori launchpad under Settings. Public Step 3: Set the connection as default (optional) Select the Set as Default Connection checkbox if you want to use the connection as your default connection. The connection name and details are displayed in bold letters in the Connection Manager dialog. Next time you click Log On, this connection will be preselected from your list of connections. 16 Logging on to multiple planning areas or systems in parallel It is possible to log on to multiple SAP IBP systems and planning areas in parallel. That can be useful, for example, during implementation and testing phases. Instead of opening a new Excel workbook, open a new Excel instance. The way to open a new instance depends on the Microsoft Office version. If the following path does not work for you, please check the help on https://support.microsoft.com. 1. Open your Microsoft Excel workbook (the first instance) as usual (and optionally log on to SAP IBP). 2. Right-click the Microsoft Excel icon on the Windows desktop taskbar, press the Alt key, and select Excel from the list. 3. Keep pressing the Alt key until a pop up appears that asks you if you want to open a new instance. Click Yes. You now have two separate Microsoft Excel instances open and can log on to different SAP IBP planning areas with each of them. If you use the Excel add-in version 2005 or higher, you can achieve the same by double-clicking on the desktop item (if your administrator has enabled the desktop shortcut during installation). Public 17 Clearing the cache When you select a connection in the Excel add-in and log on to that connection, relevant information related to the planning area, such as attributes, key figures, time periods, and so on, are downloaded to the Excel add-in and stored in a local cache. The information is marked with a version number. The next time you log on to the same system and planning area, this version information is compared with the current version on the server. If the versions don't match, the data is downloaded again. If no changes have been made logging on is faster, as the data can be directly taken from the cache, and doesn't need to be downloaded again. Sample error message: Usually, there's no need to clear the cache. However, if you think the data stored in the cache in the Excel add-in is not accurate, you can clear it. This forces all the planning area information to be downloaded again. For example, if you know that a key figure name has been changed in model configuration, but the changed name doesn't appear in the templates in the Excel add-in, try clearing the cache. As of version 2305.2.0 of the Excel add-in, you clear the cache for all connections that you have in the Connection Manager, by clicking the Clear Cache button. In versions older than 2305.2.0, you can clear the cache for each connection separately, by selecting a connection in the Connection Manager, and clicking the Clear Metadata Cache button. As of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the Microsoft Edge WebView2 cache that is used for logging into SAP IBP is also cleared when you click the Clear Cache button. Please note: Master data attributes that are marked as personal data are not cached but are read on the fly from the SAP IBP backend. The same is true if the number of attributes exceeds a threshold set in configuration using the global configuration parameter MAX_DIM_MEMBERS: the excess attributes are not cached and only read on demand. Public 18 3) How to Create Planning Views Planning views in SAP IBP Plain SAP IBP planning view (no formatting, no VBA code, …) Data from SAP IBP database VBA-based planning view template including formatting (example) Native Microsoft Excel capabilities, such as charts and drop downs, for example based on VBA coding / macros (optional) Data from SAP IBP database Public VBA = Visual Basic for Applications 20 Creating a new planning view (1) To open a predefined planning view (template or favorite) or create a planning view from scratch, click New View in the SAP IBP ribbon. Then choose one of the following: • From Template • Without Template on Current Sheet, if you want to create a plain planning view from scratch. This option will be explained in the following slides. Public 21 Creating a new planning view (2) A planning view in SAP IBP requires the following settings: 1) Workbook settings 2) Time settings 3) Attributes 4) Key figures 5) Layout (optional) 6) Filter (can be either optional or mandatory, depending on your SAP IBP system settings) 7) Alerts based on alert key figures (optional) Public 22 Basic Settings Workbook Settings Creating a new planning view – workbook settings When you create a planning view, you must specify which version the planning view includes. If you include the base version in the planning view, you can add any of the key figures available in the planning area to the planning view. If you include a version other than the base version, you can add only those key figures that are marked as version-specific key figures in the configuration of the given version. As of version 2302.2.0, the Workbook Settings side panel is available. Among other things, you can specify the version or versions you want to use here. To specify the versions, choose New View (or Edit View). In the dialog that opens, expand the Workbook Settings side panel, and choose the Versions & Scenarios dropdown. Public 24 Basic Settings Time Settings Creating a new planning view – time settings Define the time intervals for which you want to see data in the planning view. • You can combine different time intervals. • The time intervals can use different period types (such as, Weekly or Monthly) that you can select in the Time Period field. • The period names, such as, Jan 2019 or CW1 2019, are defined by your administrator. • By using Total for a time interval, you get a total column that displays the aggregated key figure value for this time interval. • The order of the time intervals/total columns and period types does not need to be chronological. Public Please note: The number of different period types that you can use for your time intervals and total columns is defined by your administrator using the global configuration parameter MAX_TIME_LEVELS in the PLAN_VIEW parameter group. If the parameter is set to 2, you can, for example, only use two levels, for example Weekly and Monthly or Monthly and Yearly for your time intervals/total columns in the planning view, but not Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly. The totals count as a level as well. 26 On-the-fly aggregation of data across time periods Data in SAP IBP is stored at the base level of the respective key figure. The base level defines the type of periods in which the data is stored, for example, weeks or days. When displaying the data, it is automatically aggregated up to the requested time period. Example: if key figure data is stored in days and your planning view displays months, then the days are aggregated to months. Your administrator can also define a more complex aggregation and disaggregation logic, dependent on the individual use case. Public Disaggregation Aggregation How the data is aggregated is defined in the key figure configuration. Example: Sum for quantity-based key figures, Avg (average) for prices 27 Time period - what is a technical week? Storing key figures at the technical week level allows a consistent aggregation/disaggregation between weeks and months. A weighting factor is used as a proportional factor to split data during disaggregation: Month Public June August July Calendar Week Technical Week CW 23 TW 23 CW 24 TW 24 CW 25 TW 25 CW 26 TW 26 TW 27a Factor 5 5 5 5 2 TW 27b CW 28 TW 28 CW 29 TW 29 CW 30 TW 30 TW 31a 3 5 5 5 5 CW 27 TW 31b CW 32 TW 32 CW 33 TW 33 CW 34 TW 34 CW 35 TW 35 CW 36 TW 36a 0 5 5 5 5 1 CW 31 28 Basic Settings Attribute Settings Creating a new planning view – Attribute settings • Define the planning level at which you want to see the data in the planning view. • On-the-fly aggregation and disaggregation of the planning data are one of the key strengths of SAP IBP. You can freely choose from all available master data attributes displayed. • The All Attributes area on the left side of the screen includes the attributes that are available to you. They are sorted in alphabetical order. • To select an attribute for your planning view, you can either select the attribute‘s checkbox or drag and drop the attribute to the Selected Attributes area. The selected attributes are the ones that will be visible in your planning view. • Public Order in the planning view: The sequence in which the attributes are listed in the Selected Attributes section determines the sequence of the attributes in your planning view. You can easily change the sequence by using the arrow buttons or drag and drop. 30 On-the-fly aggregation of data across planning levels Data in SAP IBP is stored at the base planning level of the respective key figure, for example, the product ID or a combination of multiple attributes. The data in the database is stored in these attribute combinations. If key figures are calculated based on other key figures, the aggregation works similarly. Example: LOC | PROD | CUST | WEEKLY LOC = location ID PROD = product ID CUST = customer ID When the data is displayed, it is automatically aggregated up to the requested planning level. Example: If key figure data is stored at the product ID level and you display the data at the brand level, then the data stored for the product IDs is aggregated to the respective brands. Example for Location Planning Levels Example for Product Planning Levels Product Family A Brand A Product A1 Public Product A2 Region A Brand B Product B1 Product B2 Country A LocationA1 LocationA2 Country B LocationB1 LocationB2 31 Basic Settings Key Figure Settings Creating a new planning view – key figure settings • Define the key figures for which you want to see data in the planning view • You can freely choose the currency or unit of measure (UoM) in which you want to see the data. Note: Currency and UoM conversion factors must have been loaded by the administrator beforehand. • You need to select a conversion factor for key figures for which a conversion has been defined by the administrator. • The sequence in which the selected key figures are listed defines the sequence of the key figures in your planning view. You can easily change the sequence by using the arrow buttons or drag and drop. • You can also specify whether you want to show planning notes in the planning view. Public 33 Creating a new planning view – tooltip for key figures The tooltip shows you all information on how a key figure is defined. This can help decide if for example, fixing or planning notes are allowed, and in which horizon the key figure is editable. To make the tooltip appear, hover over a key figure's name for about two seconds. With the pin button in the upper right corner, you can keep the tooltip on the screen and move it around. The tooltip is also available for attributes, planning levels, versions, time levels, and so on. By clicking the entities in blue font, you navigate to the specific tooltip. Public 34 Creating a new planning view – extended tooltip for key figures With the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel version 2205.2.0, the tooltip available for attributes, key figures and further entities such as planning levels, and versions has been enhanced within all dialogs. The main enhancements are the following: • • • • • Smaller size, which is extendable by clicking Show more, if necessary Shortened text focusing on the main details Improved handling of the dragging function Showing the entity type in the header Improved performance As of the Excel add-in version 2211.2.0, we've added a copy function to the tooltip available for attributes, key figures, planning levels, and versions. You can copy the IDs, and technical details of these entities (such as member ID, for example) by hovering your cursor over the text of the respective ID, and clicking the icon with the quick info text Copy to clipboard that appears. Public 35 Creating a new planning view – key figure groups Key figure grouping allows the administrator to group key figures for example, by business processes, roles, or tasks. The grouping depends on your individual use cases. A key figure can belong to one, multiple, or no groups at all. Example: you add groups per process such as demand planning, supply planning, inventory optimization. The groups have to be maintained per planning area in the Key Figure Groups app in the WebUI. The different groups make it easier to select the key figures that are relevant for the specific task or process. Public 36 Creating a new planning view – key figure groups You can see the key figure groups in the Edit Planning View or New View window on the Key Figures tab. In the beginning, the Key Figure Groups section is collapsed. Click the arrow to open the details. The system remembers whether the key figure group side panel was collapsed or expanded the last time you used it and sets it accordingly the next time you open the dialog. Public On the details screen, you can select individual groups or multiple groups. The key figures that are visible to you are reacting to that selection so that you will only see the key figures that are part of the groups that you had selected. Also, when opening a template or favorite, relevant groups are preselected if you have already added key figures to your selection that belong to a group. 37 Basic Settings Defining the Layout Creating a new planning view – defining the layout Customize your planning view and how the data is shown. Examples: • Should the time periods be shown as columns or rows? • What should be the sequence of the attributes and the key figures? Time periods in columns (default) Public Time periods in rows 39 Basic Settings Filter settings Creating a new planning view – filter settings(1) You can define filter criteria to: • Reduce the amount of data shown in the planning view (also for performance reasons) • Only show the data that is relevant for your current planning task. There are two different types of filters for planning views in SAP IBP: Attribute-based filters Value-based filters These filters can filter the data on a planning view based on attribute values. These filters can filter the key figure data on a planning view based on key figure values. Examples: Examples: • Customer region = USA AND Product ID = 14589; 88874; 12558 • Resource type = assembly unit • Show only customers where the annual sales volume of the last year was above 1,000,000 EUR • Identify products where the forecast quantity is below 1,000 pieces in the next 3 month • Show only combinations where the key figure value is not NULL (that is, empty or zero). Public 41 Creating a new planning view – filter settings (2) Public 42 Creating a new planning view – attribute-based filter When specifying the attribute-based filter, you can either use the value help to see the available attribute values or copy and paste them directly in the entry field (a list of values can also be copied). Copy and paste Public Selection with value help: System automatically adds the separators (;) 43 Creating a new planning view – value-based filter (1) In the time settings of the value-based filter, you can decide for which time range the filter criteria should be met. Both the time period and the range can be different from the time settings of the planning view. Example: In the planning view you could have weekly buckets from week 8 to week 20 in 2018, while the value-based filter criteria should be met in monthly buckets for the last 6 months. As for the time settings, you can set a rolling horizon using Rolling, Fixed, From Rolls and To Rolls. Public 44 Creating a new planning view – value-based filter (2) As a next step, you decide for which key figure the filter should be applied. You can only choose key figures that are part of your planning view (including alert key figures). You then decide on the operator type. The following operator types are available: • Equal To • Not Equal To • Greater Than • Less Than • Between • Not Empty • Not Empty or Zero • Is Empty • Is Empty or Zero After that, you need to set the threshold values according to your needs and decide where the filter criteria should be met: in at least one period (for example, month) of the selected time range (March – August 2018 in the example), in all periods, or in the total column for this time range. Public 45 Creating a new planning view – value-based filter (3) To remove any planning combinations where all key figure values are empty, or zero within the defined time horizon, you set the value-based filter in the planning view to All Selected Key Figures. This setting automatically switches the operators next to it, to Not Empty or Zero and In At Least one Period. Public 46 Creating a new planning view – value-based filter (4) • A value-based filters cannot be shared with other users and is not visible to other users under the name you had given it. • Value-based filters are saved within templates, favorites and offline workbooks. • When you share a template or a favorite with other users, they see the filter criteria only as an Ad-Hoc Filter (that is, with a different neutral name). • For value-based filters, there are no Template Admin options, such as Don’t copy, Copy as suggestion or Copy as mandatory (which you have for the attribute-based filters). Public 47 Creating a new planning view – value-based filter (5) Before the value-based filter was applied: The value-based filter is applied when you do the following: • When you click OK in the Edit Planning View window • When you open a template or favorite with a value-based filter included • When you refresh the planning view If an attribute combination or planning level does not meet the value-based filter criteria, the entire combination will be removed from the planning view. After the value-based filter was applied: Public 48 Creating a planning view – result You have now created a planning view without a template. It is a plain planning view (no EPM formatting, no VBA code, …). We strongly recommend that you use the SAP IBP formatting sheet to apply formatting to increase the usability of the planning views. Please note that it is mandatory to use the SAP IBP formatting sheet if you want to use the following: • Alerts in the planning view • Fixing-enabled key figures Public 49 Adding a new worksheet or copying a worksheet • • • Your Excel workbook can have multiple worksheets that contain different planning views. You can either set up each worksheet from scratch or copy the settings from an existing worksheet. You can freely name and rename the worksheets. Copy the settings to an existing target worksheet from the Edit Planning View screen: Copy current worksheet (system automatically adds new worksheet): Create a new worksheet manually and start from scratch with a new planning view: Public 50 Multiple workbooks You can have multiple Excel workbooks open with multiple worksheets containing planning views. The maximum number of workbooks that can be opened is defined by your system administrator using the global configuration parameter PV_COUNT_MAX in the PLAN_VIEW parameter group. Limiting the number of open workbooks makes sense for the following reasons: • Reduce the PC’s memory utilization, which grows with the number of open workbooks and transactions. You should still be able to work in parallel with other applications. • Reduce the SAP IBP backend load Public 51 Refreshing data The planning views in the Excel add-in show data from the SAP IBP backend at the point in time when the data was last requested or refreshed. The data does not refresh automatically when data is changed in the database. To request the latest data, the planning view needs to be refreshed. Refreshing: • Can be triggered manually by you by clicking Refresh in the SAP IBP ribbon • Automatically happens when saving data • Automatically happens when the planning view settings are edited Note that data that you have changed and simulated but not saved yet is retained when you change the planning view settings. • Automatically happens when a template or favorite is opened Public 52 Advanced Settings Time-based totals and flexible time axis Time-based totals You can define on-the-fly aggregates when defining the time settings for your planning view. Example: define a planning view that always shows the details and then the sum of the last 6 months Public 54 Advanced time settings (1) You can define how the data is displayed, as periods, summed up to a total, or both. Custom labels for total columns, such as, Year to Date or Rest of Year: Note that a certain time period must not be included in different time intervals that use the same period type. Example: You cannot define two time intervals with monthly periods that both include the month January 2019, such as October 2018 to January 2019 and January 2019 to March 2019. It needs to be, for example, October 2018 to December 2018 and January 2019 to March 2019. However, the same time range (January 2019) can be included in different time intervals that use different period types, such as Monthly (month January 2019) and Weekly (week 1/2019 to 4/2019). Public 55 Advanced time settings (2) You can also define whether the start and end of a time interval, that is, the first and the last period of the time interval, are fixed or rolling. The following are your options: • Rolling: Both the start and end period are rolling. Example: The current month is January. For the time interval to be displayed, you have selected January 2019 to March 2019 with monthly periods. When the current month changes to February 2019 as time is passing, also the time interval displayed rolls by a month and now shows data from February 2019 to April 2019. • Fixed: Both start and end period are fixed. • From Rolls: Start period is rolling, end period fixed. • To Rolls: Start period is fixed, end period is rolling. Public 56 Advanced time settings – example 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The planning view on the left displays 8 different time intervals and timebased totals, as defined in the time settings below. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Public 57 Advanced time settings – limitations (1) Simulation capabilities are only supported within one time level (period type). Simulations cannot be run for different time levels in parallel. So when you change values manually in different time levels (for example, a weekly and a monthly value) in the planning view and run a simulation job (such as, Simulate (Basic) to recalculate the planning scenario, you will receive a warning, and only one of the changed values will be taken into consideration for simulation. The other changed value will be ignored and overwritten. You can change the other value afterwards and then start a second simulation. Time-base totals are read-only and the values cannot be changed. Public 58 Advanced time settings – limitations (2) The determination of the value of the time-based total does not work for key figures which are based on an L-code implementation or on a complex configuration and which have an aggregation mode other than Sum, Max, Min, or Avg. An example of a complex configuration is the determination of the key figure value for the last period in a time period (for example, the last month of a quarter or the last month of a year), as described in SAP Note 2286684. Public 59 Advanced Settings Attribute-based totals & subtotals Attribute-based totals – overview You can use attribute-based totals within the planning view based on the selected attributes of the planning level. You can decide if you want to see: • No Total: no aggregation (default) • Total Before: Lines with totals are shown before the normal attribute values. • Total After: Lines with totals are shown after the normal attribute values (see screenshot on next slide). Public 61 Attribute-based totals – visualization Public 62 Processing changes to attribute-based totals (1) Totals are calculated in the SAP IBP backend (not in the Excel add-in). Hence, when changing a value on the planning view, the total will only be updated in the planning view after simulation or save. You can do a reverse calculation from the total to the individual key figures. Example below: The value of the total consensus demand without promotions has been changed to 80000. When you run Simulation (Basic), the system updates the numbers of the total consensus demand key figures for Europe and USA accordingly. You can have changes at one level only in one simulation run (either key figure value or subtotal). Public 63 Processing changes to attribute-based totals (2) Note that you can only change subtotals, but not the total for the highest attribute of the planning level (grand total) Example: You can change the subtotals at the level of customer region/product group, but not the value at the next level, the grand total (sum of all customer regions). Subtotals for planning level Customer Region / Product Group Grand total for planning level Customer Region Public 64 Advanced Settings Attribute value “(None)”, strong and light matches Creating a new planning view – attribute value (None) • In certain cases, you see the value (None) for an attribute in the planning view. • This value means that the chosen attribute is not part of the key figure definition and is therefore unknown to the system in this combination. • In the example on the right side, you can see that all key figures have the Product ID as a valid attribute, none of them has the Promotion ID or Promotion Type, and only the Confirmed Qty and Delivered Qty key figures have the Sold To Party as a known attribute in their definition. Public 66 Creating a new planning view – attribute value (None) Using Strong Match groups and Light Match groups The Strong Match and Light Match groups can be used to help find attribute and key figure combinations that hold data and represent meaningful information within the planning area. Based on your selection in the Time, Attribute or Key Figure tabs, the Strong Match and Light Match groups are automatically updated. Example You select Month as the time period and the attributes Product Group and Promotion ID. Moving to the Key Figures tab, you can see the key figures listed in the Strong Match group, where the base planning level is a complete match to the attributes and time dimension selected. In this example, the Promotion ID is only part of a few base planning levels, so data for it can only be visualized for 3 key figures in the Strong Match group. The ones that have a partial coverage are listed under the Light Match group and the remaining items, that don’t match at all are listed at the bottom. Public 67 Creating a new planning view – attribute value (None) Strong Match group The Strong Match group for attributes or key figures shows you which items (attributes, time periods, key figures) would lead to a full coverage on the planning view, without showing any empty or (None) labeled elements. This means that all selected attributes are part of the key figure calculation and the other way around. Please note, that empty or (None) labeled elements can still appear in case the attribute value itself is empty, but the appearance is unlikely within this group. Items listed in the Strong Match group will not show up in any other group. Public 68 Creating a new planning view – attribute value (None) Light Match Group The Light Match group for attributes or key figures shows you which items (attributes, time periods, key figures) would lead to a partial coverage on the planning view. This means that at least one selected attribute is part of the key figure calculation and the other way around. Items listed in the Light Match group will not show up in any other group. Public 69 Advanced Settings Workbook filter Workbook filter (1) With Excel add-in version 2302.2.0, you can use the new workbook filter that applies the attribute-based filter to all worksheets of the workbook. To define a workbook filter for your planning view, choose New View or Edit View, expand the Workbook Settings side panel and either choose one of your predefined planning filters or add new ad-hoc filter criteria in the Workbook Filter section. You can select additional filter criteria for one specific worksheet on the Filter tab. Please note: Your saved attribute-based planning filters can be used equally for the workbook filter and the worksheet filter. For more information, see SAP Help Portal at Combination of Workbook Filter and Worksheet Filter. Public 71 Workbook filter (2) - combination of workbook and worksheet filter On the Filter tab of a selected worksheet, you see which filter criteria are applied on workbook level. Filter criteria for the workbook filter are grayed out and can only be adjusted in the Workbook Settings. You can choose Add Attribute to add additional filter criteria that are only applied to the specific worksheet whose settings you're changing (in this example the "Demand" worksheet). The attribute-based filter criteria on worbook and worksheet level are always merged. For example, if you select "Product 1" as criteria in the workbook filter and "Product 2" in the worksheet filter, "Product 1" and "Product 2" are displayed in the planning view. For more information, see SAP Help Portal at Combination of Workbook Filter and Worksheet Filter. Public 72 Workbook filter (3) – exclude workbook filter In versions before 2305.2.0, you could either use the Workbook Filter for all worksheets or specify a specific attribute-based filter for each worksheet. With version 2305.2.0 and newer, it is possible to exclude the workbook filter from one specific worksheet and keep the Workbook Filter for all the other worksheets of your planning view workbook. To do so, you need to select the Exclude Workbook Filter checkbox on the Filter tab of the Edit Planning View dialog for the specific worksheet. Public 73 Workbook filter (4) – exclude workbook filter You can use the workbook filter for worksheet Demand, exclude the workbook filter from worksheet Capacity, and define a different filter instead. Public 74 Workbook filter (5) – exclude workbook filter The Exclude Workbook Filter checkbox is also available in the Edit… function of the Worksheet Filter in the Planning View group of the SAP IBP ribbon. Public 75 Workbook filter (6) – Drill down function With 2305.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the Drill Down function in the context menu can also be used if a workbook filter is applied to the worksheet. When you choose Drill Down > By Attribute, the selected attribute is added to the planning view and the worksheet filter is adjusted in the following way: ▪ Conditions of the workbook filter are merged with previously selected worksheet conditions. ▪ Conditions that filter on the attributes included in the planning view are replaced by the specific conditions for the planning combination of the selected cell. ▪ The Exclude Workbook Filter checkbox is selected automatically. When you choose Back or Initial View, the previous planning view is loaded again with the previously selected workbook filter and worksheet filter. Public 76 Workbook filter (7) – Alert Dashboard With the upgrade to SAP IBP 2305, the workbook filter is considered in the calculation of the number of exceptions for alert key figures in planning view favorites, which is shown in the Alert Dashboard. Public 77 Workbook filter (8) – cascading filter As of version 2305.2.0, the workbook filter conditions are considered in the Cascading Filter function. If you have multiple attributebased filter conditions and you want to add additional conditions, you can use the cascading filter function to check which filter values are valid in combination with the previously selected conditions. For more information, see SAP Help Portal at Cascading Filter. Public 78 Advanced Settings Working with filters Cascading filter Public • You can use the cascading filter to filter attributes based on other attributes. • This is useful when you want to filter on attributes that have a huge number of values. • For example, in your master data workbook or when editing the planning view, you filter on Product ID. Using the cascading filter, you can set another filter criterion, such as Brand Description. The system then displays a list of Product IDs that are part of the Brand that you specified. 80 Apply cascading filter automatically With version 2305.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the cascading filter can be applied automatically. You can enable the function by selecting the Apply Cascading Filter Automatically checkbox in the Display Options section of the User Settings dialog in the About group of the SAP IBP ribbon. When the function is enabled, the cascading filter is automatically applied when you open the value help to select attribute values for filter conditions. You don't need to choose Apply manually. Public 81 Cascading filter for simple master data types Example: Both attributes are part of the same simple master data type. • Filter for attribute 1 (such as product ID) based on a cascading filter attribute 2 (such as brand description) which is part of the same simple master data type as attribute 1. description Public 82 Saving your filter You can save your filter settings to have them available later on with just one click as a planning filter. The saved attribute-based filters are available in multiple areas: • Planning view definition • Filter menu in the planning view • Application jobs started from the Excel add-in • Master data workbook, if the saved filter is relevant for the respective master data • Change history view • SAP Fiori app Planning Filters on the Web UI, where the saved filters can also be shared with other users or user groups Public Planning filter menu in the SAP IBP ribbon: 83 Updating and deleting planning filters To update a previously saved filter, select the filter from the dropdown, change the filter conditions, and choose Update. To delete a filter, select the filter from the dropdown and choose Delete. This works the same way for value-based filters. Note that you can only delete filters that are not used. For more information, see the next slide. Public 84 Usage check for attribute-based filters You cannot delete a filter if it is still used, for example, by the following applications: • Application jobs • Application job templates • Planning view favorites • Master data workbook favorites • Planning view templates • Planning views in the Web-Based Planning app • Alert definitions • Analytics • Dashboards To see the applications that use the filter, use the Planning Filters app. See next slide. Public 85 Saving, updating, and deleting value-based filter This works the same way as for attribute-based filters. In the filter dropdown menu, you can only see the filters that are based on key figures that are included in your planning view. Please note that value-based filters cannot be shared with other users. Public 86 Updating and deleting attribute-based filters in the SAP IBP ribbon As of Excel add-in version 2302.2.0, there are two filter dropdowns in the Planning View group of the SAP IBP ribbon; the upper one for the workbook filter and the lower one for the worksheet filter. In the field labels, you can see which filter is applied (Named Filter, Ad Hoc Filter or (None)). By using the dropdowns, you can change, remove, and edit the workbook filter or worksheet filter that is being used in your planning view, or organize your attributebased filters. Public 87 Where-used list for attribute-based planning filters The Planning Filters app on the Web UI of SAP IBP lists the objects and applications that use a particular attribute-based planning filter. Note that you can find master data workbook favorites under Planning View Favorites. They have the prefix [MD]. Public 88 Invalid values in attribute-based filters (1) It can happen that attribute values are no longer available, for example, if they have been deleted from the system. Example: • When you defined the filter, you included the products A, B, and C. Later on, the product C was removed from the system, but is still included in the filter. This means that the filter now contains an invalid value. • It can even happen that none of the products defined in the filter exist any longer when you use the filter in a planning view or for an application job at a later point in time. All the values in the filter are now invalid. Public 89 Invalid values in attribute-based filters (2) What happens if an attribute-based filter contains invalid values? • If all values are missing in a filter, you get a warning when you try to use the filter in the planning view settings or in the application job settings. See the screenshots on the right. • The planning view only displays data for the valid values. • An application job runs successfully – even if all values in the filter are invalid - but you only get results for the valid values. If there are no valid values, the application log says No data found. Public Warning in the planning view settings Warning in the application job settings 90 Organizing filters in folders (1) For better usability, you can use folders to organize your attribute-based filters and value-based filters. You can assign a filter to a folder when creating or updating it. In the filter dropdown menu, you can see your filters in folders. Public 91 Organizing filters in folders (2) When adding (or updating) a filter, you can assign the filter to an existing folder or create a new folder to which the filter should be assigned. Public 92 Organizing filters in folders (3) To reorganize your folders and the assignment of filters to folders, choose Organize. Then you can do the following: • Drag and drop a filter to a different folder • Create a new folder and drag and drop filters to this new folder (Note that folders that do not contain any filters are deleted automatically. ) Public • Rename filters and their folders (more about this later) • Share attribute-based filters with other users (more about this later) 93 Organizing attribute-based filters in folders in the SAP IBP ribbon The folder structure you created for attributebased planning filters is also visible in the filter dropdown menu of the SAP IBP ribbon. Public To reorganize the folders, choose Organize. Also see previous slide. 94 Sharing attribute-based filters with other users You can share attribute-based filters using the Organize dialog either in the SAP IBP ribbon or in the Filters tab of the Edit Planning View / New View window. Select the filters that you want to share with other users and user groups and click the share icon Public Select the users or user groups. Your selection is saved once you click OK. The filters now have a suffix in the name stating that they are shared by you. Click OK to save and confirm further changes that you made in this dialog. 95 Resharing attribute-based filters If you want to extend the sharing to additional users for multiple filters, in some cases you might find that the users with whom these filters were already shared might differ from filter to filter. Select the filters that you want to share with other users and user groups and click the share icon. Public If you selected some shared filters but not all filters that you selected were shared with the same users, the names of the users are shown in italic and with a filled checkbox in the dialog. You can add new users with whom all filters that you selected are shared, or you can also reselect the ones that you already saw initially to make sure all filters that you selected are shared with them. 96 Sharing of attribute-based filters – opting-out of shared filters You can opt out of attribute-based filters that were shared with you by other users. Filters that you have opted out of don’t appear in your attribute-based filters list any longer. To opt out, drag and drop these filters to the Opt Out folder. To get the filters back, drag and drop the filter back to the other area. You can also use the Move button to opt out of one or multiple shared filters. Public 97 Organizing attribute-based filters using the move dialog To assign or re-assign multiple attributebased filters to folders, you can use the Move items dialog, as follows: 1. Select the filters that you want to move to a different folder or new folder 2. Click Move item 3. Select the folder to which the filters should be moved or create a new folder Public 98 Renaming attribute-based filters and their folders (1) You can rename attribute-based planning filters and the respective folders via the Organize menu. SAP IBP ribbon You find the Organize dialog in the dropdown menu for attributebased filters. Public New Planning View / Edit Planning View window For attribute-based planning filters, the Organize dialog can be found in the New Planning View / Edit Planning View window on the Filters tab. 99 Renaming attribute-based filters and their folders (2) ▪ To rename a folder or planning filter via the Organize menu, you click the mode. (pen) icon next to the name to activate edit ▪ To validate the new name and check that it is not already being used, you click the (checkmark) icon or press the Enter key on your keyboard. You will see that the (pen) icon slightly changes for the item. ▪ When you choose OK, changes are validated and saved. Please note that all changes get saved, including the changed items that are still in edit mode. If you choose Cancel, unsaved changes are discarded. Switch to Edit Mode Public 100 Renaming attribute-based filters and their folders (3) Please note that you cannot do the following: ▪ Rename favorites or attribute-based filters that are shared with you ▪ Apply a circular renaming in one step, such as A → B, B → C, C → A ▪ Create duplicate names Public 101 Renaming attribute-based filters and their folders (4) The following are also not allowed: ▪ Empty names ▪ Special characters Allowed characters include the following: letters, numbers, currency symbols, - (dash), _ (underscore), and space ▪ Spaces at the beginning or the end of the name are trimmed automatically. Public 102 Advanced Settings Sorting attribute values Sorting attribute values – introduction Sorting attribute values helps you to structure your data in an efficient way for your daily work and keep an overview of the most important aspects. Besides sorting the attribute values in ascending or descending order, you can define custom sorting rules. For example, if you want to have your top three customers always at the top of the list, you can pin these three customers to the top of your planning view and move less important customers to the bottom. Public 104 Sorting logic in the Excel add-in In the Excel add-in, sorting is based on ASCII (decimal) character code. For more information, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII. Public 105 Assigning a sorting rule to an attribute In the planning view settings, you can assign a sorting rule to each attribute that you have selected for the planning view. In the dropdown menu next to the attribute, you can choose between the following sorting rules: • A-Z, for sorting in ascending order • Z-A, for sorting in descending order • Custom sorting rules that you have defined previously (see next slides) Public For each attribute a sorting rule can be selected. 106 Defining a sorting rule for an attribute 1. Click the ellipsis button (…) next to the sorting dropdown of the attribute. 2. On the right side of the Manage Sorting Rules window, set up the sorting sequence for the attribute values. Example in the screenshot The Selected Items section shows a list of attribute values. This list is the sorting rule for the Product Desc attribute. With this rule, the planning view will list monitors and phones in the planning view in the following order: 1. CleverTele 42inch white 2. M-Phone 3D 640GB black&pink NEW 3. Others, that is, all other products visible on the left side of the window in ascending order (A-Z) - except for, 4. CleverTele 48inch silver, which comes at the bottom Public 107 Defining a sorting rule – “Others” • Others is an SAP default category that includes all attribute values from the left side that you have not selected. • You can decide whether these values get sorted in ascending or descending order. • To do so, use the A-Z and Z-A toggle buttons next to the search field. Public 108 Defining a sorting rule – selecting items and changing the sequence • To select an item for the sorting rule, select the respective checkbox on the left side or drag and drop the item from the left side to the right. • To deselect an item: Do the same, just from the right to the left. • Public Drag and Drop To change the sequence of the selected items, move them up and down using drag and drop. Or use the arrows in the top right corner. 109 Sorting of Attribute Values by Description if ID-Description Linking is Used Before 2111.2.0 • With Excel add-in version 2011.2.0 sorting of attribute values in a planning view was introduced. • It was not possible to sort values based on Description if IDDescription linking was used. Public As of 2111.2.0 If Description is selected to be displayed in the planning view, the sorting rule applies to the description values. You can change the selection in the Manage Sorting Rules dialog. 110 Closing the rule creation You can save the sorting rule that you have just defined in the following ways: • As a rule that is immediately applied to your planning view, by choosing OK (ad hoc sorting) • As a custom rule with a specific name, by choosing Add Public 111 Saving a custom sorting rule 1. Choose Add. 2. Enter the rule name. 3. Choose Add again. Your sorting rule is now available in the sorting dropdowns. Public 112 Updating and deleting a custom sorting rule In the Manage Sorting Rules window, you can also update or delete a sorting rule. Please note that you cannot delete sorting rules that are still being used by favorites and templates. If you try to do so, you will get an error message with the name of the favorite or template in which the sorting rule is used. Public 113 Sorting for attribute combinations 1 2 3 The sorting rules are applied to each attribute from left to right. Custom sorting rule XYZ Sorting rule Z-A Example in the screenshot 1. The customer countries are sorted in ascending order, using the standard sorting rule A-Z. 2. Within each customer country, the product groups are sorted in descending order using the standard sorting rule Z-A. 3. For each value combination of customer country and product group, the products are sorted using the custom sorting rule XYZ. Custom sorting rule XYZ Custom sorting rule XYZ Sorting rule A-Z Public Sorting rule Z-A Custom sorting rule XYZ 114 Changing the sorting rule in the planning view In the planning view, you can also change the sorting rule for an attribute using the context menu, as follows: 1. Right-click an attribute value. 2. Choose Sorting. 3. Select the sorting rule you want to apply: • A-Z for ascending • Z-A for descending • A custom sorting rule saved previously Public 115 Sorting rules in planning view templates and shared favorites Please note: Planning view templates and planning view favorites are explained in detail later on. This slide only covers how these objects handle sorting rules. The sorting rules for attributes are saved with a planning view template or a favorite. So, next time you open the template or favorite, your choice of sorting rules is preset for the selected attributes. If you share a favorite, the sorting rules are shared with the other users as well. Saved sorting rules, however, will appear as (Ad Hoc Sorting) rules for other users. The same applies if you open a template that was created by another user. How you see your favorite: Public How your colleagues see it: 116 Attribute-based sorting and member sorting Please note: Local members are covered in greater detail later on. This slide is just about sorting aspects. In addition to attribute-based sorting, sorting using the Report Editor (also called Member Sorting), is also available. We recommend that you only use attribute-based sorting in the planning view, as this is the preferred way of sorting in the Excel add-in. If you want to use both, please note that attribute-based sorting is applied by the SAP IBP backend, while member sorting is applied by the Excel user interface. Therefore, member sorting overrules attribute-based sorting, if there are conflicting sorting settings. To set up member sorting, choose Advanced → Report Editor. On the Layout tab, select an attribute and then Sort or group members by properties. Public 117 Advanced Settings Sorting based on key figure values Sorting based on key figure values (value-based sorting) Where can you find it? The Value-Based Sorting function is available on the Key Figures tab in the Create Planning View or Edit Planning View dialog as of version 2211.2.0 In the dropdown, you can choose one of your available value-based sorting rules that you already saved previously. If (None) is selected, no value-based sorting rule applies. By choosing the … button next to it, the Manage Sorting Rules – ValueBased Sorting dialog opens, and you can define a new value-based sorting rule or update the selected one. Public 119 Sorting based on key figure values (value-based sorting) How to set up a sorting rule In the Manage Sorting Rules – Value-Based Sorting dialog you can select the key figure whose values you want to sort. By using the Ascending and Descending toggle buttons you can decide whether the key figure values should be sorted in an ascending or descending order. Select a time level which fits the selected key figure and choose a time horizon. (Note: The time level and time horizon can be different from the ones used on the Time tab) If you choose the same time period in the From and To field, the planning view will be sorted by the key figure values of this period. When you choose several time periods instead, the planning view will be sorted by the aggregated key figure values over the selected time periods. Public → See example planning views on the following slide 120 Sorting based on key figure values (value-based sorting) Sorting based on one time period The values of Consensus Demand Shortage in the coming week are sorted in a descending order. Public 121 Sorting based on key figure values (value-based sorting) Sorting based on several time periods The aggregated values of Consensus Demand Shortage over the coming 5 weeks are sorted in a descending order. Public 122 Sorting based on key figure values (value-based sorting) Save your own sorting rule Once you have configured a sorting rule, you can choose the Add new sorting button and define a name. This way you can save the sorting rule and reuse it in other planning views where the related key figure is selected. To do so, you just need to choose the name of the sorting rule in the dropdown of the Value-Based Sorting field. You can update and delete the selected sorting rules by using the Update and the Delete buttons. Public 123 Sorting based on key figure values (value-based sorting) Restrictions There are some restrictions related to the planning view settings that you must keep in mind if you want to use value-based sorting: ▪ Only key figures that are included in the planning view can be used for value-based sorting. ▪ Aggregated constraint key figures can‘t be used for value-based sorting. ▪ Time periods must be placed on the column axis. ▪ Attributes must be placed on the row axis (apart from time profile attributes, which always need to be placed on the column axis together with the time periods). ▪ Key figures can be placed on either the row or the column axis. On the row axis, the key figures must be placed after all selected attributes. ▪ Only one version and one scenario can be selected, multiple versions and scenarios are not supported. ▪ Attribute-based sub-totals are not supported, only attribute-based grand totals and time totals can be used. Public 124 Exclude attributes from value-based sorting rules Motivation As of version 2302.2.0 of the Excel add-in, you can exclude attributes from the value-based sorting rule, and sort them according to the attribute-based sorting rule that is defined. In this way, it is possible to combine attributebased sorting and value-based sorting in one planning view. Public 125 Exclude attributes from value-based sorting rules Including all attributes If you define a value-based sorting rule and choose to include all attributes in the lower part of the Manage Sorting Rules dialog, the attribute-based sorting is deactivated for all attributes. Note: This is the default selection when you create new sorting rules. This is also reflected on the Attributes tab. Public 126 Exclude attributes from value-based sorting rules Including all attributes All selected attributes are sorted by the value-based sorting rule and attribute-based sorting is deactivated. The values of Consensus Demand Shortage in the coming week are sorted in descending order for the available combinations of Product Group, Product ID and Customer ID. Public 127 Exclude attributes from value-based sorting rules Excluding the first attribute If you define a value-based sorting rule, and choose to exclude some of the attributes in the lower part of the Manage Sorting Rules dialog, the attributes you exclude are sorted by the attribute-based sorting rule that is defined. The value-based sorting rule is applied to the attributes that are included. This is also reflected on the Attributes tab. Public 128 Exclude attributes from value-based sorting rules Excluding the first attribute The attribute Product Group is excluded from the value-based sorting rule, and is sorted from A-Z. The values of Consensus Demand Shortage in the coming week are sorted in descending order for the available combinations of Product ID and Customer ID inside one Product Group. Public 129 Exclude attributes from value-based sorting rules Restrictions When excluding attributes from the value-based sorting rule, please keep the following in mind: • Only sorting rules with all attributes included can be saved as custom rule and reused in other planning views. (The Add new sorting button is disabled otherwise.) • Only the first or the last attributes can be excluded, attributes in the middle can’t be excluded. Please note: If you save ad-hoc value-based sorting rules with excluded attributes in planning view templates or shared favorites, and other users are opening them using 2211 versions of the Excel add-in, the rule is applied correctly, but the excluded attributes cannot be changed in the older versions. Public 130 Advanced Settings Scrolling to current time period Opening planning views - scrolling to the current time period Example You can have the worksheet automatically scroll to the current time period when you open a planning view. (In this example, the current time period is C47 M11 2022.) Public 132 Opening planning views - scrolling to the current time period How to enable it? If you select the Scroll to current time period checkbox on the Display tab of the Options dialog, the planning view or change history view of the active worksheet scrolls to the current time period every time you open or edit it. If you want to use this function in a specific template or favorite, select the checkbox for all relevant worksheets and update the template or favorite. Public 133 Opening planning views - scrolling to the current time period Good to know ▪ The time periods must be placed on the column axis on the Layout tab of the Create Planning View or Edit Planning View dialog. ▪ If you have defined multiple time levels or totals in your planning view definition, and the checkbox Scroll to current time period is selected, the planning view scrolls to the current time period of the first time level defined. ▪ Make sure to freeze the columns including the headers of the row axis (such as attributes and key figures) using the Microsoft Excel Freeze Panes function in the View group, otherwise the headers won‘t be visible after the scrolling is applied. Public 134 4) Saving Planning Views as Templates and Favorites Comparing templates and favorites Templates • A template administrator can share planning view templates with all users. • A template administrator can maintain defaults, filters, and more. • The system administrator can restrict the access to certain templates for the users using authorizations. Public Favorites • • • • Individual for the user Only visible for users with whom the user has shared the favorites The administrator cannot centrally restrict the access to the favorites to certain users. Favorites have a separate lifecycle: Favorites that were created from a template do not get automatically updated when the original template gets changed (the formatting, for example). 136 Creating, updating, and deleting a favorite or template Once you have created a planning view, you can save it as a favorite or, if you have the necessary authorization of a template administrator, also as a template. For templates, choose Templates in the SAP IBP ribbon and then choose • Add to create a new template • Update to update an existing template • Delete to delete an existing template Public For favorites, choose Favorites in the SAP IBP ribbon and then choose • Add to create a new favorite • Update to update an existing favorite • Delete to delete an existing favorite 137 Accessing templates Once a planning view is saved as a template, it can be opened as follows: From the Templates dropdown menu in the Excel add-in ribbon (usually visible for template administrators only) Public When you create a new planning view from a template, you can select the template to open. The settings can then also be adjusted directly. 138 Sharing a favorite with another user You can share your favorite planning views with other users or user groups, as follows: 1) Open the favorite. 2) In the SAP IBP ribbon, click Favorites and then click Share. 3) Select the users and user groups and click OK. Public 139 Opting out of favorites You can opt out of favorites that another user has shared with you and that you don‘t want to see any longer. Click Favorites and then Organize. Public Drag and drop the shared favorite to the Opt Out Folder. 140 Organizing favorites and templates using folders Folders can be created for: • Planning view favorites • Master data favorites • Planning view templates To create a folder, create a planning view and select Add or Update. Public • Folders only exist when they have favorites assigned. Folders that do not contain a favorite or template are removed. • Folders cannot be transported or shared with other users. The template folder structure is also available when creating or editing the planning view. Organize your folders and planning views by using drag and drop, sorting, creating and deleting folders. 141 Renaming favorites and templates In the Organize menu, you can rename planning view favorites, master data favorites, planning view templates, and the respective folders. The Organize menu is included in the following groups of the SAP IBP ribbon: Favorites in the Planning View group Public Favorites in the Master Data group Templates in the Template Admin group Please note that the same process and limitations apply as for the renaming of the attribute-based planning filters. 142 5) SAP IBP Formatting Sheet SAP IBP formatting sheet You can use the formatting sheet to define a specific format (font, color, size, and so on) for the data area in the planning view as well as for the header. The formatting settings can be applied to templates by an administrator, or to individual planning views by planners, provided they have the necessary authorizations. The SAP IBP Formatting Sheet consists of the following sections: • Default Formatting: in this section, you can determine the basic formatting that you want to apply to your planning view. • Member/Property Formatting: in this section, you can define additional rules to fine-tune the formatting dependent of key figure characteristics such as editability or certain conditions. • Row and Column Banding: in this section, you can define the format for every second row or every second column to better distinguish between the different rows or columns. For a detailed description of the different sections, and how to apply formatting to your planning views using the SAP IBP Formatting sheet, see the application help on the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com/ibp, under SAP IBP Formatting Sheet. Public 144 SAP IBP formatting sheet You can open the SAP IBP formatting sheet as follows: Open a planning view or a planning view template in the Excel add-in, and in the Planning View group, choose Edit View -> View Formats. The SAP IBP Formatting Sheet is added to the workbook as an additional sheet. Make your formatting settings in the SAP IBP formatting sheet, as required. Once you are done, you can hide the SAP IBP Formatting Sheet, choose View Formats again. Public 145 SAP IBP formatting sheet enhancements Starting with the 2105.2.0 version of the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel, your existing formatting sheets are migrated to a new format on the fly when you open a favorite or template that contains a formatting sheet that was created with lower versions of the Excel add-in. Your planning views are not affected by this migration and the formatting that you are used to is contained. During the migration, certain settings that were irrelevant for the usage with SAP IBP are removed, certain rules are merged, and labels are changed. The changes result in a formatting sheet that is easier to use, and requires fewer formatting rules to be set up to visualize that a value in a cell is editable, for example. Public 146 SAP IBP formatting sheet enhancements Public 147 SAP IBP formatting sheet - new rules in the Member/Property Formatting section Formatting Rule Purpose Default Format for Non-Editable Cells Maintain specific formatting settings that should be applied to cells where the key figure values are not editable. If not applied, the default formatting is applied. Default Format for Editable Cells Maintain specific formatting settings that should be applied to cells where the key figure values are editable. If not applied, the default formatting is applied. It is recommended to use this setting to increase the usability of the planning views. Default Format for Changed Cells Maintain specific formatting settings that should be applied to cells where the user has changed a key figure value. If not applied, the default formatting is applied. It is recommended to use this setting to increase the usability of the planning views. Default Format for Local Member Cells Maintain specific formatting settings that should be applied to cells that are associated with a local member. If not applied, the default formatting is applied. Formatting on Specific Member/ Property Maintain additional formatting settings based on custom rules. You can create custom rules for example for specific attributes, key figures, time periods, and properties of these members. Public Example 148 SAP IBP formatting sheet - enhanced formatting for a specific member or property With 2302.2.0, we‘ve enhanced the SAP IBP Formatting Sheet dialog that is used to add formatting rules for specific member or property values. To add such formatting rules, choose Add Member/Property in either the Row or the Column area of the Member/Property Formatting section. Public 149 SAP IBP formatting sheet - add new formatting rules for specific member or property values When you choose Add Member/Property, the following dialog is opened. Choose Add Condition to define a formatting condition based on members, properties or other specifics. Public 150 SAP IBP formatting sheet - add new formatting condition for specific member values To define a formatting condition based on members, stay on the Member tab. Select first the dimension (group of members), for example Key Figures, a time level or an attribute. Then select the member, for example key figure name, time period, attribute value and choose OK. Please note: It is possible to select multiple members of the same dimension which will result in an OR condition. For further details about the terminology, see SAP Help Portal at Terminology: Dimension, Member, and Property. Public 151 SAP IBP formatting sheet - add new formatting condition for specific property values To define a formatting condition based on properties, switch to the Properties tab. First, select the dimension, then choose the property, operator, and value and confirm by choosing OK. (As of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the dimensions on the Properties tab are grouped to make selecting dimensions easier when you set up formatting rules for specific members or properties.) In this example, a formatting condition for key figures that have the property "Percentage" set to "Y" (Yes) is defined. Public 152 SAP IBP formatting sheet - add new formatting condition for other specifics To define a formatting condition for blank members, total members or local members available in the planning view, switch to the Specific Selection tab. Public 153 SAP IBP formatting sheet - combine multiple conditions in one formatting rule Once you have selected a condition, it is added to the first dialog. There you can do the following: ▪ Add more conditions by choosing Add Condition. Conditions in the same formatting group are combined by an OR. ▪ Add additional formatting groups by choosing Add Group. Formatting groups are combined by an AND. ▪ Adjust or delete conditions. ▪ After you choose OK, the formatting rule created is added as a new row to your formatting sheet, and you can format the Data or the Header cell according to your needs. Public 154 SAP IBP formatting sheet - example: combine multiple conditions in one formatting rule Apply a formatting rule if the key figure name is “Customer Receipts Adjusted" OR “Customer Supply Adjusted", AND if the time period is the current time period. Public 155 SAP IBP formatting sheet - enhanced formatting for a specific member or property things to consider When you open a template or favorite with version 2302.2.0 or higher, the formatting sheet included is automatically migrated and the formatting keeps working as before. Please be careful with updating templates or shared favorites that include formatting sheets, if you have version 2302.2.0 or higher installed. First, make sure that all users that are accessing the templates and favorites are also using Excel add-in version 2302.2.0 or higher. If you are updating templates or shared favorites that include formatting sheets with version 2302.2.0 or higher, formatting rules for specific member or property values are not applied if users with Excel add-in versions lower than 2302.2.0 are opening the templates or shared favorites. The same applies if you create new templates or favorites that include formatting sheets with version 2302.2.0 or higher. The general formatting settings and default settings are applied, only the rules for Formatting on Specific Member/Property function don‘t work if older Excel add-in versions are used. Public 156 6) Visualization of key figure editability Key figure editability horizon The editability horizon is the time defined for key figures in which business users can edit the key figure data. The system considers editability horizons when users make manual changes in key figure values, it is disregarded when the changes are done by system processes, for example, when a forecast run changes key figure values. Editability horizons are considered in the following areas: • Excel add-in • (Editability horizons can be visualized in the Excel add-in, using the formatting rules for editable key figures. For more information, see the application help on the SAP Help Portal at https://help.sap.com/ibp, under Formatting Rules to Visualize Key Figure Editability.) • Web-Based Planning app • Driver-Based Planning app Public 158 Definition of key figure editability horizon The Manage Editability Horizons for Key Figures app can be used to define editability horizons for one or more key figures. Public 159 Definition of key figure editability horizon – (fixed rule - static horizon) The definition of the editability horizon contains: • A list of key figures which the horizon belongs to (do not have to be at the same base planning level) • The time level at which the relative time is calculated (can be any time level from the planning area) • The From and To relative periods • From or To can be unlimited which results in an open editability horizon In this example, the key figures Marketing Forecast Qty and Sales Forecast Qty are editable from the month following the current month until the 4th month. For example, if the current date is March 15th, 2021, then from April 2021 to July 2021 (July included) Public 160 Definition of key figure editability horizon – (rule based on planning level attribute) It is possible to select the From and/or the To definition from an attribute of type integer present in the base planning level of the key figures. In this example, the horizon is defined at a weekly level. The From value comes from the FROZENHORIZON attribute of the planning level and the end of the horizon is open. The key figures in the editability horizon definition do not have to come from the same base planning level, but the attribute selected should be present in all of them. Public 161 Definition of key figure editability horizon – (rule based on master data) It is possible that the attribute defined in the From or To is not present at the base planning level. In this case, a master data type can be chosen to define the horizon. The join condition of planning level and master data do not have to be at root attribute level, it can be at any level that the business process requires. If a value is missing from the master data, the static horizon is used. Public 162 Definition of key figure editability horizon – (create master data) The master data type doesn't have to be part of a planning area. There is no need to change and activate a planning area, you can just create a master data type for the purposes of the editability horizon. In this example, if the Region is for example, North America, the horizon defined in the static section will be used. Public 163 Definition of key figure editability horizon – (role definition) The editability horizon needs to be assigned to the users using roles. It can be found in the Write, Read, Value Help section SAP delivers the default editability horizon SAP_DEFAULT_HORIZON, which grants an unrestricted editability horizon to all the active and stored editable key figures of all active planning areas for which there is no editability horizon defined in the Ready status. The default editability horizon cannot be edited, but it can be assigned to users via the Editability Horizon restriction field. If you do not want to use this feature, or the planning area is not normalized, this field needs to be defined as Unrestricted. Public 164 Key figure editability horizon – usage considerations The editability of key figure values by a specific user is determined by a number of factors. The editability horizon for key figures is taken into consideration on top of other settings defining the editability of key figure values. It serves to restrict and does not extend the editability of key figures. For example: • Horizon Aggregation (Dynamic Rules) The system uses the smallest allowed horizon. Horizon information is calculated on the request level based on the combinations which belong to it, the system considers the read • permission filters as well as the attribute filters used for planning view for calculating the final horizon: • Product 1, Location 1 has horizon from -2 to 3 • Product 1, Location 2 has horizon from 0 to 5 • Planning view is on Product level Product 1 has horizon 0 to 3 Public Edit Allowed field in planning area configuration = Current and Future Periods and the horizon is -3 to + 5 Editability horizon is: 0 to +5 Horizon is -3 to + 5 but no permission because of permission filter Editability horizon is: 0, the user has no permission to change key figure values 165 Formatting rules to visualize the key figure editability horizon The key figure editability feature is accompanied by enhanced formatting rules to support the visualization of flexible key figure editability horizons. Use the Default Format for Editable Cells to define a format for cells that are editable by the user, for example, indicated by a white background. You can use the Default Format for Non-Editable Cells to define a format for cells that are not editable and where you wish that the formatting is different from your overall template background, for example, indicated by a grey background These new rules also work with the existing key figure settings for editability (for example, Editable in the Current and Future) It is recommended to use these two new formatting rules for data formatting either in the row or the column area due to performance impact. The header formatting is not impacted by this. Public The new key figure editability settings configured in the Manage Editability Horizons for Key Figures app are only visualized correctly when you use the Default Format for Editable Cells rule. 166 Formatting rules – example planning view Public 167 7) Time-Based Disaggregation of partially editable child nodes Time-based disaggregation of partially editable child nodes – How does it work? You can edit a key figure value for the current period at an aggregated level, even if the period is only partially editable. Let's assume that we are now in February 2021. The key figure is stored at a monthly level, and it is editable in the current and future periods, according to the configuration of the key figure in the Planning Areas app. The current quarter, Q1 has already begun, which means that it is only partially editable, as January is over and is closed for editing. If you try to edit a key figure value at the aggregated, quarterly level, in other words, if you want to change the value for Q1, you can do so. Time periods that are partially editable can be edited at an aggregated level and the changed value is distributed to the editable time periods, according to the disaggregation mode that has been specified. In our example, if you change the value of Q1, the system distributes the changed value between the months of February and March. The value in the part of Q1 that is closed for editing (the month of January), remains the same. Public 169 Time-based disaggregation of partially editable child nodes – Changes that aren’t allowed The system rejects following types of changes: • Changes that would lead to negative values of the editable child nodes at the storage level. In the previous example, if you change the value of Q1 to 50, the result would be - 75 for February and March, respectively, which is not allowed. • Changes of values to empty values, if there are values in the noneditable periods. • Changes to values if all of the child periods in the editable area are fixed. Public 170 Time-based disaggregation of partially editable child nodes – Considerations Things to remember: • The system considers manual changes that you make to partially editable key figure values in the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel. It is not possible to edit such values in the Planner Workspaces app. • Changes to partially editable child nodes made by system processes, for example forecasting runs (simulation or background) are not supported. • As of 2111.2.0, you can fix or unfix key figure values of partially editable periods that haven't been fixed yet or were fixed before. • The ADVSIM operator does not consider partially editable child nodes. Public 171 Time-based disaggregation of partially editable child nodes – Formatting The Excel add-in shows whether a period is editable or not at the cell level. As default, noneditable cells have a light gray background. You can use the SAP IBP Formatting Sheet to set up your own formatting for editable and noneditable cells (as described in slide 123). Public 172 8) How to Work with Planning Views Editing planning views Editing planning views You can edit all settings of a planning view using the Edit View button in the SAP IBP ribbon. Public 175 Quick Edit View & Quick filter Quick edit When working in the planning view, you can also easily add and delete planning levels, and shift them around. Right-click an attribute value or a cell within the time header in the planning view and choose Quick Edit Planning View and select, for example, Add Planning Level Before. Public 177 Quick filter You can set a quick filter on an attribute. The filter comes up with the filter criteria that was defined in the previous step, for example, customer ID. When you select a specific ID, the data in the planning view is automatically filtered accordingly. Public 178 Changing key figure values interactively Changing key figure values in the planning view After you have created a planning view, you can make changes to the plan and see the results of your changes directly in the planning view. Once you have a good understanding of the current plan, you can do the following to change the plan interactively: • Make changes to the plan by changing the values of relevant key figures directly in the planning view. • Run a simulation to see what the effect of your changes are on the plan. • Run planning operators in simulation mode and check the results after the simulations have finished. • Discard unwanted changes by refreshing the planning view. • Save your changes. • Fix the values of certain key figures to protect them from unwanted changes either by you or by simulations, planning operators, application jobs, and so on. Public 180 Changing key figure values manually You can change the values of editable key figures directly in the planning. If your administrator has set up formatting rules in the SAP Formatting Sheet to distinguish editable key figure values from noneditable ones, you can tell by the formatting which cells are editable in the planning view. If you have the necessary permissions, you can change the editable key figure values directly in the planning view and save your changes. If your permissions are missing, you get an error message when you try to save your changes. If this happens, please get in touch with your administrator. Public 181 Resetting changes in your planning view (1) Usually, you can use the Microsoft Excel Undo function to reset the changes you made to key figure values manually. However, if your administrator has applied a formatting rule in the Default Format for Changed Cells field of the SAP IBP Formatting Sheet to highlight cells of key figure values that have been edited, you can’t use the Microsoft Excel Undo function, as it is deactivated in this case. Instead, you can select a cell or range of cells in the data area of the planning view, and choose Reset Changes from the context menu. You can select a broad range that also contains cells that haven‘t been changed, but keep in mind that the number of cells in the range that you select can’t exceed 10,000 cells. When you use the Reset Changes function, the key figure values and the formatting of the selected cells, including formatting for alerts, are reset to the last status after you opened the planning view, or after you triggered functions that reload the planning view, such as Refresh, Save Data or Simulate. In addition to manual changes, local changes, for example changes that have been made by using VBA coding, are also reset. This function is available as of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in. Public 182 Resetting changes in your planning view (2) Things to remember • If you've changed the value of one specific cell several times, all changes that have been made to that cell are reset when you choose Reset Changes. You can't reset the changes step by step. • There is no function to redo the changes that you reset using the Reset Changes function, so make sure you only reset the changes that need to be reset. • If you have selected the Keep formula on data checkbox under Settings > Options in the About group of the SAP IBP ribbon for the active planning view, the following applies to formulas you entered in the planning view: • The formulas are not reset if you choose Reset Changes. • The formulas are not formatted according to the formatting you specified in the Default Format for Changed Cells field of the SAP IBP Formatting Sheet. • If your administrator has configured the Changed Member Default Format formatting rule to be applied to headers as well as to data cells, and you choose Reset Changes, the changed header formatting stays for changed data cells. If you want to reset the formatting of the headers as well, you must include the related header cells in the selected range and then choose Reset Changes. This function is available as of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in. Public 183 Resetting changes in your planning view (3) Planning notes and fixing If you added planning notes or changed existing planning notes in your planning view, the planning note changes that haven‘t been saved yet are also reset when you use the Reset Changes function. The same applies to changes related to fixing and unfixing of key figure values. This function is available as of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in. Public 184 Simulation Mode / interactive planning Interactive planning – simulating the effect of data changes The Excel add-in offers powerful simulation capabilities that you can use to run what-if simulations on the fly. During simulations, you can change data in the planning view, simulate what effect your changes would have on other key figures, and even run planning operators such as statistical forecasting in simulation mode to analyze the potential results - without changing the actual planning data in the base planning version. The simulated data is only visible to you and doesn’t have any impact on the data that is stored in the SAP IBP backend. This means that other users are not affected by your simulations. However, if you come to the conclusion that your changes are valid, you can save the simulation so that it becomes the actual planning. Public 186 About simulations • A simulation recalculates the planning view, only considering the changes that you have made in the planning view. • If you have changed a key figure value, you can simulate the effects of the change on the dependent key figures using Simulate (Basic). You can save the changes either as the new baseline plan to the SAP IBP database, visible to all users, or save it as your private scenario. To discard your changes, you simply need to refresh the planning view. • If you have multiple planning views in one workbook, a simulation in one planning view is automatically propagated to the other planning views in the same workbook. The same applies if you refresh the data in one planning view to discard all changes; this discards the changes in all planning views of the workbook. • To see the impact of your changes on the plan, you can also run a planning operator, such as, supply planning, inventory optimization, and statistical forecasting, in simulation mode. Starting an operator in simulation mode means that the system automatically starts Simulate (Basic) first in order to update dependent key figures based on your changes before starting the operator itself. • Note that there is no undo button for simulations. If you have run multiple simulations, you cannot undo the last one, but need to refresh completely, thus losing all previous simulation results. Public 187 Simulate (Basic) The basic simulation updates the values of the key figures that depend on the key figures that you have changed (using the key figure calculations that have been defined in configuration) - but only in the planning view. No data is saved in the SAP IBP database until you save it. Public 188 Simulate (Basic) – overview The consensus demand is calculated from the sales forecast quantity, the marketing forecast quantity, and the demand planning quantity entered by the demand planner. If you manually change the sales forecast quantity for 3 consecutive periods and run Simulate (Basic), the system automatically updates the consensus demand. Totals and subtotals are also getting updated. Sales Forecast 50% Marketing Forecast 30% Demand Planner Forecast 20% Consensus Demand Plan Public 189 Simulate (Basic) – complex key figure calculations Simple key figure calculation: Depending on the key figure definition in configuration in the SAP IBP backend, the calculation for a key figure can become rather complex and, even if only one value was changed in the planning view, a lot of operations need to happen at the database level in order to simulate and recalculate the dependent key figures for that single changed value. A more complex key figure calculation: This means that the size of key figure calculations plays a role in the performance of interactive planning. Please note that in some special cases, data changes that were done for a specific planning combination (such as, product A and location A) with a subsequent Simulate (Basic) run can also have an effect on other planning combinations (such as, product A and location B) and can result in updated planning data for these as well. Public 190 Planning operators in simulation mode – Statistical Forecasting Example: Simulate the effect of different forecast models on the data, or simulate the effect of increased or decreased sales on the statistical forecast. The system automatically uses the planning level, the periodicity, and the filter criteria defined in the planning view for the forecast model. The available forecast models automatically appear in the Simulate dropdown menu if the user permissions are given. Public 191 Planning operators in simulation mode – Inventory Planning (Advanced) Whether an operator is available in the simulation menu, depends on the configured inventory profiles for the respective planning area, and on your user permissions. The system uses the planning scope that was set in the Workbook Settings side panel on the Create Planning View or Edit Planning View dialogs automatically for the operator simulation. Starting with the 2108.2.0 version of the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel you can run the Inventory Planning (Advanced) profiles in simulation mode. Example: Simulate the effect of changed input factors, run multi-stage optimization to calculate target inventory components. Public 192 Planning operators in simulation mode – S&OP operators Whether an operator is available in the simulation menu, depends on the configuration of the operator that is done by your administrator, as well as your user permissions. (The Interactive Mode checkbox must be selected in the operator profile and the planning operator must be assigned to the planning area.) The system uses the planning scope that was set in the Workbook Settings side panel on the Create Planning View or Edit Planning View dialogs automatically for the operator simulation. Example: Simulate the effect of changed input factors such as new capacity constraints on the supply plan. Public 193 Subnetworks and planning scope for simulation runs Subnetworks (previously called planning units) are relevant but not mandatory for inventory optimization and time-series based supply planning. If subnetworks are set-up for your planning area, you need to select the subnetworks that you want to plan in the Planning Scope tab in the Workbook Settings side panel. The setting you make here is applied to all planning views of the workbook and is automatically used when simulating Inventory Planning (Advanced) operators or S&OP operators. You can define default subnetworks in the user settings. Public 194 Planning operators in simulation mode – simulation log Show Messages After a simulation run, you can access a detailed log of the last simulation run using the Show Messages menu entry. Public 195 Simulation across different planning views A simulation session always involves the entire Excel workbook, including all planning views (worksheets) in the workbook. So if you change data in one planning view (on worksheet 1, for example), then click Simulate (Basic) or start a planning operator in simulation mode, and then go to another planning view (worksheet 2, for example), you see that associated data has been updated with the simulation run. Example: In your Excel workbook, you have three planning views on three different worksheets. Planning view 1 shows aggregated data and summarizes the results from the two other planning views. Planning views 2 and 3 show data on a detailed level for different regions. Review and change data on planning view 2 Public Simulate your changes Review changed data on planning view 2 Go to planning view 1 and review simulated results on aggregated level Go to planning view 3. The data on this view is not affected by the simulation. 196 Consecutive simulations in one simulation session You can run multiple consecutive simulations without saving the data in between. For example, you can change data, run a simulation, review the results, change data again, simulate, and so on, until you get the appropriate results and want to save the changes or discard them all by clicking Refresh. Example: Change data on planning view 1 Change data on planning view 2 based on the results from first simulation run Public Simulate your changes Review results of simulation in planning view 1 Move to planning view 2 on different sheet Review results of simulation on planning view 2 Simulate your changes Review results of simulation in planning view 2 Move back to planning view 1 on different sheet Review results and save your changes 197 Change planning view settings during a simulation session A simulation session is not affected by changes to the planning view settings. So you can use drilldowns, or change the settings in the Edit Planning View menu without losing the results of your simulation. The system applies the changed settings to your planning view, but retains the simulated results. Example: Public Change data in your planning view Simulate your changes Review results of simulation Change for example the planning level or add / remove key figures via the Edit Planning View Review results of simulation in changed planning view Change data and simulate again Review results of simulation Save data 198 Versions About versions • Versions are used to create “alternative realities” of the global company plan. • The base version represents the base plan (operational plan) that is used within the company as the go-to plan. • Additional versions can help determine what the best path forward is, without interfering with the base version. • Versions are valid for and used by the whole company, or by departments of a company, and are visible to all end users who have the necessary authorizations. • Versions are created centrally in the SAP IBP model configuration and are an optional, but common part of an SAP IBP implementation. • A version consists of a set of key figures that represent the particular plan. Different versions can have different key figure values. For example, the sales forecast might be 100 in an upside version, only 50 in a downside version, and in the end, 70 in the base version. • A version always consists of a sub-set of the available key figures that are included in the base version. They cannot include additional key figures. • Some key figures within a version are marked as version-specific and some as pure baseline key figures. Baseline key figures will always show the data stored in the base version, while data in version-specific key figures can differ from version to version. • A version can consist of version-specific master data (optional). Public 200 Versions – sample process Adjust your planning view data • Change key figure values in the base version Public Copy base version to version • Copy your base version to a version (such as, upside or downside) to use the base version values as a basis for changes to a more optimistic or pessimistic plan. Copy version to base version Change version • Change key figure values in the version • Change master data if you are using version-specific master data • Copy values from a version to the base version if you want to promote the changed values back to the base version. 201 Comparing versions • In the planning view definition, in the Workbook Settings side panel, select the versions you want to see in the planning view. • The default is Base Version. • The version selection is valid for all sheets in the workbook. In the planning view, a new column is added, called Version. You can compare the different versions, change values, and more. Please note that this column is not visible when you have only selected the base version in the planning view definition. Public 202 Copying versions In the Manage Versions window, you can • Copy data from the base version to an alternate version • Copy data from the alternate version back to the base version • Copy data among alternate versions • Delete data in versions The actions are executed as an application job for which you can define the following parameters: • Time horizon that should be copied • Master data attributes filters • Key figure filter Version copy and version deletion jobs can also be scheduled as recurring jobs. The status of the jobs can be seen in the Version Status window. Public 203 Scenarios About scenarios • Planners can create scenarios themselves directly in the Excel add-in. • A scenario is a user-specific “alternative reality” of a plan. • A planner can use scenarios to determine what the best path forward is, without interfering with the current planning (for example, the company’s base version). • Scenarios can help the planner to answer what-if questions quickly. • A planner can make the scenario visible to other users by sharing the scenario with them. • A scenario is a subset of the data in a planning area, referring to one or multiple versions. • Multiple users can create different scenarios for the same planning area. • The baseline scenario (briefly “baseline”) includes the original data set based on which a particular scenario was created. Public 205 Scenarios - sample process Adjust your planning view data • Change key figure values in the baseline scenario (default) Public Run simulation • Simulate what effect these changes have on your planning view Save as scenario • Keep hold on the changes and simulations without saving it in the versions • Continue to work on the data until you are confident that the scenario is ready to be promoted to the versions, such as, the base version (which is the company’s operational plan). • Visualize different scenarios in one planning view to compare the data. Promote scenario • Promote the scenario to the versions, for example, the base version. • The data is immediately copied over to the versions and is visible to all users. 206 Creating a scenario Public • In the Scenarios area, click Create. • Enter a name and a description of the new scenario. • At this point, you can share it with other users or groups. But this can also be done later on. • Once you click Save, the new scenario is created and a new column called Scenario is added to your planning view. 207 Creating an empty scenario and resetting a scenario If you have not made any changes yet to your planning view in the baseline scenario, you can create an empty scenario which is defaulted to the baseline values. Any change in baseline values will also be changed in the scenario, up to the point when you start changing values in the scenario, which then decouples it from the baseline. You can manually reset the scenario to the baseline in the Manage Scenarios window. Public 208 Creating a scenario including unsaved data changes You can create a new scenario after you have made changes to your data in the planning view. Please note the following: • You will need to simulate your changes using the Simulate (Basic) first, before creating a new scenario if your planning view contains more than one time level. • The new scenario will automatically contain all your data changes if all changes were valid. In that case, it is not necessary to first simulate these changes using the Simulate (Basic). • Invalid data changes cannot be detected in all cases by the Microsoft Excel front end as the data validation happens in most cases when sending the data changes to the SAP IBP backend during a simulation with Simulate (Basic) or when saving the changes. Invalid changes can occur, for example, if you changed data for a key figure or attribute value without having editing authorization, or in cases where the fixing of a key figure value would lead to negative values during disaggregation. When creating a scenario based on a planning view that contains valid and invalid changes, the following behavior applies: • If the invalid changes can be detected on the frontend, you are informed about the invalid changes before the new scenario is created. All • changes are discarded when the scenario is created. If the invalid changes cannot be detected by the frontend, you are not informed about the invalid changes before the new scenario is created. All changes are discarded when the scenario is created. Therefore, it is recommended that you first use Simulate (Basic) before creating a new scenario based on changed values. Public 209 Comparing scenarios In the planning view definition, in the Workbook Settings side panel, select the scenarios you want to see in the planning view. • The default is Baseline. • The scenario selection is valid for all sheets in the workbook. In the planning view, a new column is added, called Scenario. You can compare the different scenarios, change values, and more. Please note that this column is not visible when you have only selected the baseline scenario in the planning view definition. Public 210 Managing your scenarios In the Manage Scenarios window, you can do the following: • Change the name and description of the scenario • Share it with other users and user groups • Promote the scenario to the versions involved • Reset the scenario to the baseline values • Delete the scenario • Duplicate the scenario, that is, copy it to a new scenario Public 211 Sharing a scenario with other users You can share your scenarios with other users or user groups. In the Manage Scenarios window, click on the icon and add the respective users or user groups. Please be aware that these users then have full authorization to change, delete, and promote the scenario. The users can furthermore not opt out on the scenario as they can’t change their assignment themselves. Only the user who has created the scenario has the rights to remove users again. Public 212 Promoting a scenario Promoting a scenario means that all changes that were done within the scenario are copied to the versions and are now visible to all other users in the company. You can add a comment to explain your decision and changes. Public 213 Explaining “A scenario is a subset of the data in the versions.” The planning view shows the data that is stored as the base version in the SAP IBP database. In this case, the planning view is the baseline scenario. When creating a scenario, an additional layer is added in the SAP IBP database where only the values that are different from the baseline scenario are stored (highlighted in red in the screenshot). This data is only visible to the users associated with the scenario, that is, the user who has created the scenario and anyone they shared the scenario with. Public 214 Comparing version and scenario What is it? Who creates it and where? Who can change it? Public Version • A set of key figures that represents a particular plan of the company. • Versions are valid for and used by the whole company, or departments of a company, and are visible to all end users who have the necessary authorizations. • Different versions can have different key figure data. For example, the sales forecast might be 100 in an upside version, but only 50 in a downside version. The administrator creates it in configuration. The administrator Scenario • A user-specific copy of the plan that the planner can create to save the results of the simulations made during a planning session. The key figure values in the versions or baseline is not changed. • The planner can use scenarios for long running what-if simulations to see how changes to the planning data might affect the overall plan. • A scenario can also be used to quickly save changes made and continue to work on these later on. • A scenario can include data from one or multiple versions: All versions that were shown on the planning view at the time when the planner created the scenario are represented in the scenario. • A scenario usually consists of less data and has a shorter lifecycle, compared to a version. Planners create it in the Excel add-in. • • Planners can change their own scenarios. A planner can share a scenario with other planners so that they can view and edit it (on-the-fly collaboration). 215 Ad-Hoc drill down Ad-hoc drill down – overview (1) When working directly in the planning view, you can use the drill down capabilities to add additional attributes and quickly drill down to a certain planning combination. Drill Down: Right-click a cell within the data range in the planning view and choose Drill Down → By Attribute… Public Choose from the list of additionally available master data attributes for further drill down 217 Ad-hoc drill down – overview (2) The planning view is updated with the new master data attribute, but only for the planning combination that was selected previously. In this case, product family x-phone and customer region APAC. Public Right-click Back to go one step back, or Initial View to return to the planning view as it was defined before the drill down. Please note that you will not be able to use the Back option if you edited the planning view settings, such as time, key figure, planning level, and more, after you used the drill down. 218 Ad-hoc drill down and simulation capabilities As mentioned before, you can change your planning view settings or use the drill down within a simulation session. Within a drill down, you are basically changing and lowering the planning level of the planning view by adding attributes. Data changes can be simulated in every level and reviewed in any other level. Example: Change data in your planning view Simulate your changes Review results of simulation. You see an unexpected data peak in one area. Change data for that peak on lower level, simulate again and review results Use Back to go back to the original planning view before the drill down. Review simulation results on aggregated level. Drill down to check where the peak is originating from. Simulation results are disaggregated automatically Save or discard* data *You can discard the changes by clicking Refresh. The simulation run ends with the refresh. Public 219 Fixing Key Figure Values Business goal Protect (lock) key figure values for certain periods on a detailed or aggregated level against unintentional changes by automated processes or by disaggregation after the user has simulated/saved changed data. Reasons could be, for example, a special agreement with customers on a planned event. Public 221 Fixing of cell values 500 ➔ 800 ◑ 500 ➔ 800 Value change ◑ 200 100 Public 100 100 100 200 100 100 ➔ 200 100 ➔ 200 100 ➔ 200 100 100 222 Fixing of cell values – subhierarchies (1) A planner wants to fix a key figure value for a certain period, including all its child values. 500 Aggregated level, such as, product group 500 ◑ Partially fixed Fixed 200 200 Fix Fixed 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Fixed 100 Base planning level, such as products Public 223 Fixing of cell values – subhierarchies (2) Changes on a higher aggregation level do not change fixed values. 500 ➔ 800 ◑ 500 ➔ 800 Value change ◑ 200 100 Public 100 100 100 200 100 100 ➔ 200 100 ➔ 200 100 ➔ 200 100 100 224 Fixing of cell values – subhierarchies (3) Value changes that would cause negative values due to fixing are rejected. 500 ➔ 140 ◑ 500 ➔ 140 Value change ◑ 200 100 100 100 100 200 100 100 ➔ -20 100 ➔ -20 100 ➔ -20 100 100 Negative values are not allowed for fixing-enabled key figures. Negative values that the user has entered are rejected when the user is trying to save the data and a fixing exists for one of the elements in the disaggregation path. The system does not create negative values during disaggregation due to fixed key figure values. Public 225 How to fix values Right click Right click You can fix: Public • Individual cells • Ranges of up to 50 cells • Individual rows 226 How to indicate fixed values Fixed values are indicated by standard Microsoft Excel symbols: 🔒 For completely fixed values ◑🔓 For partially fixed values For partially fixed values, the fixed quantity is displayed in an Excel comment. Public 227 How to unfix values manually Right click Right click You can unfix: Public • Individual cells • Ranges of up to 50 cells • Individual rows 228 About fixing • Fixing is only possible for key figures that can be edited manually. • Fixing must be activated per key figure in configuration by the administrator or configuration expert. • Fixing can only be activated for up to 20 key figures. • Note that fixing a larger number of cells (all editable key figures in a certain horizon, for example) can have an impact on the performance. • You can only fix or unfix a key figure value completely. It is not possible to manually fix or unfix a partial quantity of a key figure value. Partially fixed values can only be created by the system during aggregation. • Only single or multiple key figure values can be fixed, not all values of a planning object. For example, you cannot fix all key figure values for a certain product ID. • Negative values are not allowed for fixing-enabled key figures. You cannot enter and save a negative value for a fixing-enabled key figure. The system does not create negative values during disaggregation due to fixed key figure values. • Public Empty cells/cells without values (also called NULL values) cannot be fixed. 229 Error handling for invalid changes (1) If you change a completely fixed cell manually and then simulate or save the data, this change is rejected and a warning message is displayed. Example: Public 230 Error handling for invalid changes (2) Invalid changes detected during saving the data are listed in a rejection window. The user can: Display details for the rejected cells or Highlight the rejected cells or Resend only the valid changes to the SAP IBP backend or Abort simulation Public 231 Configuration considerations for administrators For some planning operators that do copy key figure values, the fixing behavior is configurable. As a system administrator or configuration expert, you need to make the following decisions, depending on the business process: • What should happen to a target key figure value after the source value has been copied when the source key figure value is fixed? Should the target value also be fixed or not? • How to handle a fixed target key figure value? Should it be protected against changes by the copy process? Or should it be unfixed so that it can be overwritten with the value from the source? Regardless: If a source value cannot be copied to the target value because the target value is fixed, a warning needs to be added to the log. Configuring the Copy & Disaggregate Key Figures operator • By default, if a target value is fixed, it is not changed. If the target value is not fixed, it is overwritten with the source value. However the target is not fixed if the source valued is fixed. • To also fix the target value when the source value is fixed, use the parameter COPY_KF_FIXING. • To unfix the target value before the source value can be copied, use the parameter COPY_KF_FIXING. Public 232 Fixing in the copy process – example Before copying key figure 1 to key figure 2: Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Key figure 1 5 5 5 Key figure 2 3 3 🔒 3 After the copy process: Consider Fixing Automatically Unfix Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Key figure 1 5 5 5 Key figure 2 5 3🔒 5 The fixed value in key figure 2 has been considered and remains unchanged. Public Copy Period 1 Period 2 Period 3 Key figure 1 5 5 5 Key figure 2 5 5 5 Copy The fixed value in key figure 2 has been automatically unfixed and changed by the Copy & Disaggregate Key Figures operator. 233 Fixing in SAP IBP operators Process Interactive disaggregation (including versions and scenarios) Forecast simulation Batch forecast run Copy & Disaggregate Key Figures operator Copy operator Copy Version Operator Data integration Mass unfixing Inventory optimization Response management Lag-based snapshot Consider fixed values Fix Unfix Yes (Default) Yes Yes Yes (Default) Yes (Default) Yes (Default) No No Yes No No Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Consider fixed (target) key figure values by default Unfix fixed (target) key figure values by default Copy scenarios: Fixing information is copied when promoting or duplicating scenarios. Public 234 Planning notes Business reason and process example for planning notes A planning note is a special comment that a planner can create for a key figure value to provide additional business information, such as, the reason for changes, assumptions, and so on. Planning notes are visible to other planners. Change data manually Add new planning note Review data Demand planner Demand planner Global planner Global planner Customer orders additional 20k pieces. Adds a planning note in Excel to the changed cell to make it transparent that the high increase of the new demand comes from the new customer order. Reviews the plan on global level Reviews planning notes Demand planner updates data on customer level (product, customer). Public Wants to know why the increase in customer demand happened Review planning note Now knows why there was an increase in the demand 236 Comparing planning notes and change history Change history Planning notes • The user provides a planning note to a key figure value in the planning view. • The comment and the reason code applies to all changes that the user made before saving the data. It is used to capture additional information about this specific key figure value. • • Comments and reason codes are visible in the change history view. Planning notes are immediately visible in the planning view, directly where the user is working. • • To enable the change history for a key figure, the administrator must enable the key figure accordingly in the configuration. Planning notes are visible to all planners. They provide a simple way of exchanging additional information between planners. • To enable planning notes for a key figure, the administrator must enable the key figure accordingly in the configuration. The change history is only recorded for change-history-enabled key figures. • A user can only create planning notes for planning note-enabled key figures. • • • Public The user provides a comment and a reason code when saving the data. 237 Creating a planning note (1) Planning notes cannot be created for the cells in the red area (attributes, key figures, and, time periods). You cannot, for example, create a planning note for the master data attribute value North America or for the time period W20 2018. Public You can only create planning notes for the cells in the green area, that is, for a certain combinations of attributes, key figures, and time periods. A planning note can be created for a single cell, but not for a range of cells. 238 Creating a planning note (2) 1. Right-click the cell to open the context menu. 2. Click Add Planning Note. Note that this entry is only displayed when the key figure is enabled for planning notes. 3. Enter the note text (up to 1000 characters). 4. Click OK. The planning note is now visible in the planning view as Draft. 5. Click Save Data to save the note to the database and make it visible for other users. Prerequisites: • You have the necessary read and write authorizations for planning notes. • The planning view settings are set to show planning notes. Public 239 Creating a new planning note – time totals and grand totals It is not possible to create planning notes for cells containing time totals and grand totals. You can add planning notes to subtotals, however. Planning notes that were created for a subtotal are saved for the corresponding attribute value (the product group HOME THEATER, for example). Public 240 Disaggregation of planning notes Planning notes that are created on an aggregated level are - during saving - disaggregated to the base planning level of the respective key figure. This means that the planning note is attached to each value of a key figure at the base planning level. Planning note disaggregation Note that the this can result in massive amounts of data on the database. Restriction: Planning notes cannot be saved when the disaggregation of the planning note to the base planning level of the key figure would result in more than 20 million attribute/period level combinations on the database. This results in an error message. Brand Error Message: Product Group A Product 1 Product 2 Product Group B Product 3 Product 4 If the planning note is created at Brand level, it gets disaggregated to the base planning level Product ID in this example. Typically, base planning levels are more complex, such as, product-location-customer. Public 241 Displaying planning notes in the planning view (1) • The planning note is visualized as an Excel-native note in the planning view. • You can can use the mouse-over to read the header text of the planning note (such as, Changed At and Created By). • The note box automatically auto-sizes so that all of the text is visible when you click into the cell. Public 242 Displaying planning notes in the planning view (2) To see planning notes in the planning view, you need to set the display options accordingly in the planning view definition: Edit Planning View → Key Figures → Display Planning Notes Options: • Don’t Show: Do not show planning notes. • Show from This Planning Level Only: Show only planning notes that were created on the planning level of the planning view. • Show from All Levels: Show planning notes from all levels of aggregation and disaggregation. Please be cautious: This setting can have quite a performance impact while loading the data when many planning notes exist in the system. Public 243 Displaying planning notes in the planning view – example Possible attribute combinations for a key figure with planning notes: PRODUCT ID PRODUCT GROUP LOCATION ID REGION CUSTOMER ID CUSTOMER GROUP PRD_1 PRDGRP_1 LOC_1 REGION_1 CUST_1 CUSTGRP_1 PRD_2 PRDGRP_1 LOC_2 REGION_2 CUST_2 CUSTGRP_2 Planning note 1 Planning note 2 Planning note 3 PRD_1 LOC_1 CUST_1 PRD_2 PRDGRP_1 REGION_2 CUST_1 Planning notes have been created for the key figure at different levels. The planning level of the planning view is product ID and region. Which planning notes are visible in the planning view depends on the selected option: • Don’t Show: No planning notes are visible. • Show from this Planning Level Only: Planning note 2 is shown. • Show from All Levels: All planning notes are shown. Public 244 Auto-sizing for planning notes By default, the planning notes have a standard size. Not all of the planning note details are displayed when hovering over the planning note or when choosing Show All Notes under Notes in the Review tab of Microsoft Excel. To check the text of one specific planning note, select the respective cell and the size of the note will be automatically adjusted to the size of the text. If you want to have the planning notes auto-sized when opening a planning view, you can change the setting Threshold for autosizing of planning notes in User Settings in the About group of the SAP IBP ribbon to a higher value than the default value “0”. Please keep in mind that the auto-sizing feature can have a negative impact on the performance. We recommend that you choose a threshold that considers the number of planning notes that are usually viewed within a planning view and check the performance when opening a planning view with several planning notes included. Planning note without auto-size: Planning note with auto-size: Please note that no auto-sizing is being applied at all if the threshold has been reached. Public 245 Multiple planning notes in a cell If multiple planning notes exist for one cell, only the most recent planning note is shown, plus the information <number> further planning notes exist for that cell. To display the additional planning notes (and to edit or delete a note), right click on the cell, then click Show Planning Notes. In the details view, further information about the planning notes can be seen and the planning notes can be edited or deleted. Public 246 Planning note details: view, edit, delete, use filters Planning note text Planning level and attribute values for which the planning notes were created Status of the planning note Draft Saved Edited Date and Time of last change Deleted User who last changed the planning note Public Click to edit the planning note Click to delete the planning note Note: If you edit or delete a planning note, you still need to save these changes afterwards! Planning view filter and visibility filter that was active when the user created the planning note 247 Planning note keywords - assign and create keywords With Excel add-in version 2205.2.0, you can assign keywords to planning notes. Keywords can be interpreted as tags that help classify a set of planning notes. Depending on the system setup and your authorizations, you can choose from a predefined set of keywords, or create new keywords on the fly. The keyword input field provides a type-ahead function that supports selecting the appropriate keyword. Keywords can help finding related planning notes within the new SAP Fiori app Manage Planning Notes. This app also allows admins to predefine the keywords. Public 248 Comparing planning notes and Microsoft Excel notes Planning notes use the Microsoft Excel note features to visualize the planning notes in the planning view, as follows: • Creating, editing and deleting planning notes using Microsoft Excel note features (in the Review tab) is not supported and results in a warning message when saving the data in the planning view. These changes are not saved in the SAP IBP database and will be lost after a refresh of the planning view. • You can use the user setting Perform Planning Note Validation to disable this check and no warning message will be shown. • Microsoft Excel native comments in an SAP IBP planning view are also not saved in the SAP IBP database and are lost after a refresh of the planning view. • Other Microsoft Excel note features in the Review tab, such as Previous Note, Next Note, Show All Notes, can be used. Public Context menu: Review tab in Microsoft Excel menu: SAP IBP warning message: 249 Copying cells with planning notes – example You can copy a cell or a range of cells that contain planning notes and paste it to another cell or range. The planning notes are now also shown in the target cell/range. This is the standard Microsoft Excel behavior for copying notes. However, the copied notes are not recognized as SAP IBP planning notes and subsequently not saved in the SAP IBP database. Copy cell: Public Microsoft Excel note on target cell is not recognized as SAP IBP planning note and will not be stored in the backend. 250 Using planning notes with scenarios and simulations You can use planning notes also when working with simulations and scenarios. Even your draft planning notes that you have not saved yet stay visible when running simulations, performing drill downs, and so on. Note: If you have changed planning notes in your planning view, and you want to create a scenario, simulate your changes first by choosing Simulate→Simulate (Basic), then create your scenario. Change data and create a new planning note Simulate your changes Review results of simulation. You see an unexpected data peak in one area. Change data for that peak on lower level, simulate again, and review results Use Back to go back to the original planning view before the drill down Review simulation results and planning note on aggregated level Drill down to check where the peak is originating from. Simulation results and draft planning notes are disaggregated automatically. Save or discard* data and planning notes *You can discard the changes by clicking Refresh. This ends the simulation run. Public 251 Mass deletion of planning notes (application job) • Old or obsolete planning notes that are no longer needed can be removed using an application job run by the administrator (job template Delete Planning Notes). • The application job can be planned as a recurring job. • Application job parameters: Public − Planning Area − Version − Keyfigure − User − Attributes of Planning Note Level − Notes Created Before − Periods Ending Before − Rolling 252 Managing planning notes using the Manage Planning Notes app You can use the Manage Planning Notes app to view, and delete planning notes that have been created for a specific planning area, version, and scenario by you or other users in the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel, and in the Web-Based Planning, and Planner Workspaces apps. You can also create new keywords, rename existing keywords or delete keywords from the Manage Planning Note Keywords view of the Manage Planning Notes app. You can open the view by clicking Manage Keywords in the planning note overview. For more information, see Manage Planning Notes. Public 253 Copying planning notes with planning operators You can copy planning notes along with key figure values from one version to another version using the Copy Version operator. Public 254 Adding Own Key Figures (Local members) Local formulas and calculations on top of SAP IBP data • Users can quickly add their own MS Excel calculations and formulas on top of data from SAP IBP. • No need to contact the local IT to get another key figure defined. • Calculation is kept consistent when changing the planning view definition. • Data is not saved on the database, but calculated locally when you open the planning view. Therefore, please be aware that applying Excel formulas and calculations in SAP IBP planning views can have an impact on the performance. • Local formulas are calculated by the Microsoft Excel frontend and not by the SAP IBP backend. A vast amount of calculations (because the formulas are complex or the planning view is large) can have an impact on performance. You should check case by case whether a local key figure really makes sense or whether it is better to use standard functionality (such as, totals and subtotals) or calculated key figures in the in the SAP IBP backend. Public 256 Example for local key figures in rows Public 257 Example for local key figures in columns Public 258 Prerequisites for creating a local key figure To make the SAP IBP system recognize your local calculations in the planning view, select the Activate Local Member Recognition checkbox in the Options menu. Public 259 Creating a local key figure (1) 1) 2) 3) Public In Options, select Activate Local Member Recognition. In the planning view, add a new line or column where you want to add your new local key figure. Enter a name for your key figure. 260 Creating a local key figure (2) 4. Add the calculation (formula) in the first cell. You can use simple calculations but also more complex Microsoft Excel formulas (such as, VLOOKUP) 5. Press Enter. 6. The system automatically applies the formula to the whole row. You can change the calculation at any time and in any cell of the local key figure. The system automatically applies the changes to all cells of the local key figure and all lines and columns associated with it. Public 261 Creating a local key figure (3) 7) The system automatically adds new lines/columns at the same position for all attribute/time combinations. First row is manually added by the user after the first attribute combination. Additional new lines are automatically added by the system. Public 262 Creating a local key figure (4) A local key figure created with local member recognition is linked to the following: • The SAP IBP objects that it is calculated from, for example, specific key figures or time periods • A certain position (before or after a certain key figure) That’s why the formulas remain consistent when changing the planning view, for example, by changing the order of the attributes or key figures or by adding and removing key figures. When removing key figures, however, please make sure that no local calculation is associated with them as the local calculation would otherwise disappear from the planning view. Example: When using local key figure, the yellow formula on the left is translated to the statement on the right. =EPMMEMBER([KEY_FIGURES].[].[CONSEN SUSDEMAND])+EPMMEMBER([KEY_FIGURE S].[].[DEMANDPLANNINGQTY]))/2 Public 263 Creating a local key figure – use position in axis In certain cases, you might not want to have a direct linkage between the local key figure and the SAP IBP objects used to calculate it, but instead want the local key figure to remember a certain position in the planning view. In this case, you select the Use Position in Axis in Options. Public 264 Using Use position in axis – example (1) The Position in Axis setting is useful, for example, when you use a local key figure that sums up the next 3 months. The time periods are set to Rolling. In January 2019, the planning view and the local key figure calculation look like this: Public 265 Using Use position in axis – example (2) In February 2019, the time periods displayed in the planning view have rolled by one month. Without Position in Axis selected, the calculation and the planning view look like this: The local key figure moved to the left by one column as it is linked to the March time bucket. It is now summing up February and March 2019 only and also includes the column J with the key figure description. With Position in Axis selected, the calculation and the planning view look like this: The local key figure has kept its position as column 4 of the time axis and sums up now the months February, March, and April 2019. Public 266 Using Use position in axis – internal representation of formulas With Use Position in Axis selected, the yellow formula on the left is internally translated to the statement on the right. =(EPMPOSITION(1)+EPMPOSITION(2))/2 =SUM(EPMPOSITION(1), EPMPOSITION(2), EPMPOSITION(3))/3 Public 267 Local key figures – changing settings for the planning view If you use your own local key figures, you can still change the planning view definition. You can, for example, change the sequence of the key figures or add or remove attributes. The calculations for the local key figures (formulas) are automatically kept consistent by the system. You can usually change, add, or delete time levels, attributes, and key figures as long as the formula calculation is kept consistent. Example: After you have changed the sequence of the key figures, the formula for the local key figure My local key figure still refers to the same input key figures – provided the Position in Axis checkbox is not selected. Public 268 Local key figures – changing the layout of the planning view Even with local key figures included, you can change the layout of the planning view in the Edit Planning View window anytime. However, always make sure that Key Figure stays the last entry to be displayed. Example: When you add Scenario, it will automatically be placed after Key Figure. If you use local key figures, you need to manually adjust the order and move Key Figure to the bottom to still see the local calculations in your planning view. Public 269 Local key figures – complex calculations across different columns Local key figures are an easy-to-use feature, designed for simple, on-the-fly calculations. But in some cases, more complex calculations are required. One example is when formulas are spread across different columns. This cannot be achieved with the local member recognition, but requires a power user with access to the report editor. Example: When you use local member recognition and enter the formula =K7+L7 in the K8 cell, the formula gets automatically changed to =K7+K7. In cases like this, you need to ask a power user to set up the calculations with the report editor. Public 270 Local key figures – keeping formula on data You can also enter a formula in a cell that already contains data, for example, an SAP IBP key figure. When you perform a refresh, this formula is usually removed. If you want the formulas to remain after a refresh, select the Keep Formula on Data option in the Options menu. This option also has a positive effect on performance in many cases. Therefore we recommend that you keep it switched on. Public 271 Deleting a local key figure The easiest way to delete local key figures is using the Options menu. Select the local key figure you want to delete and click OK. Public 272 Local members – expert setup For a more complex definition of local key figures and advanced setup possibilities, use the Local Members tab in the report editor. You can find more information and examples about local members in the SAP IBP documentation: https://help.sap.com/ibp -> Use -> Application Help -> User Interface > Planning with Microsoft Excel Public 273 9) How to Save Key Figure Data in a Planning View Introduction You can change and save key figure values in the planning view. The changes are saved to the database and directly visible to all other users in SAP IBP. Change key figure data Public Click Save Data System checks your permissions Data is saved on the database Planning view is refreshed with the latest data 275 Saving data 1) Change key figure values in the planning view. 2) Click Save Data in the SAP IBP ribbon. 3) Valid changes are saved and you are asked to enter a reason code and a comment (optional). 4) Click Save. 5) The changes are saved in the database, and the planning view is refreshed with the updated data. Public 276 Reason code and comment • Adding a reason code and a comment is an optional step when saving your changes. • Reason codes are predefined by your IT/administrator and are used to classify the change. Codes can more easily be analyzed than free text. • Using a comment (free text), the user can add more information about the changes. • Reason codes and comments are stored as part of the change history records. • Share With… Collaboration Group: the SAP IBP system posts a feed in the Collaboration group that informs the other users about the data change including reason code and comment. You can set a default Collaboration group in the user settings. Public 277 Saving data - prerequisites Whether a specific user can change values of a specific key figure, depends on the following factors: • The key figure has been configured to be editable by your administrator. Depending on the configuration, changes are allowed for past periods, current/future periods, or all periods. • Roles, authorizations, and permissions assigned to business users determine the subset of key figure values that a specific user can edit. • The user must have the relevant permission filters assigned. • The value must not be fixed. Fixed values are indicated by a lock icon: • The editability horizon defined in the Manage Editability Horizons for Key Figures app further restricts the editability of key figure values. (For more information about editability horizons, see slides 114 – 124.) • The user is logged on to the SAP IBP backend through the Excel add-in. Public 278 Editable time periods • All Editable Key figure values can be changed in past, current and future time periods. • Editable in the Current and Future Periods Key figure values can be changed in the current and future time periods only. • Editable in the Past Key figure values can be changed in past time periods only. If you change a value in a blocked time period, you get a warning when clicking Save Data: For more information regarding the system behavior, please refer to SAP Note 2570654 (https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2570654) Public 279 Editable in the past with different time aggregation levels Base planning level of the key figure: days Current date: July 13, 2018 (calendar week 28) Data is changed in daily periods: Data can be saved from July 12, 2018 downwards. Public Data is changed in weekly periods: Data is changed in monthly periods: Data is changed in yearly periods: Data can be saved from calendar week 27 downwards. Data can be saved from June 2018 downwards. Data can be saved from 2017 downwards. 280 Editable in the current and future with different time aggregation levels Base planning level of the key figure: days Current date: July 13, 2018 (calendar week 28) Data is changed in daily periods: Data can be saved from July 13, 2018 onwards. Public Data is changed in weekly periods: Data is changed in monthly periods: Data is changed in yearly periods: Data can be saved from calendar week 28 onwards. Data can be saved from August 2018 onwards. Data can be saved from 2019 onwards. 281 Invalid changes If a change is invalid, for example, because the key figure is not editable in a period or the value is fixed, the user gets a notification when clicking Save Data. Examples: When you click Yes, the valid changes are saved to the database and the invalid changes are discarded. Public 282 “Last one wins” principle • The data a user is working on is not locked. Other users can work on the same data in parallel. • The last update made to a value is the one that is stored on the database. Example: User A saves data at an aggregated level (product group, monthly periods) at 08:10:02. am User B saves data at a detailed level (product in this product group, weekly periods) at 08:10:00. → The changes from user A will overwrite the changes from user B. Public 283 Time disaggregation When saving data for an aggregated time period, such as months, quarters, or years, the data is automatically disaggregated down to the base level of the respective key figure (such as days) and stored in these lowest periods. Example: Data is saved for the time period year 2015. The base level of the key figure is technical weeks. Aggregation Disaggregation If the disaggregation rule Equal Distribution is set for the key figure, the data is equally distributed across the technical weeks. Public 284 Planning level disaggregation When saving data for an aggregated planning level, the data is automatically disaggregated down to the base level of the respective key figure and stored in these lowest periods. Example: Data is saved for the planning level brand/region. The base level for the key figure is location ID/product ID/customer ID. If the disaggregation rule Equal Distribution is set for a key figure, a key figure value entered for brand/region is equally distributed across the product/location/customer combinations. Example for Locations Example for Products Region A Product Family A Brand A Product A1 Public Product A2 Brand B Product B1 Product B2 Country A Location A1 Location A2 Country B Location B1 Location B2 285 Disaggregation mode examples: Equal distribution At the aggregated level, you have increased the quantity from 50 to 100. Disaggregation distributes the changed quantity equally at the lowest level. Before Aggregated level: Change quantity After 50 100 Disaggregation Lowest level: Public 10 10 10 20 25 25 25 25 Equal distribution 286 Disaggregation mode examples: Proportional if aggregated value is not zero; otherwise, equal distribution (1) At the aggregated level, you have increased the quantity from 50 to 100. Since the initial aggregated value was greater than 0 (50), disaggregation distributes the changed quantity proportionally to the initial lowest-level values. Before Aggregated level: Change quantity After 50 100 Disaggregation Lowest level: Public 10 10 10 20 20 20 20 40 Proportional distribution 287 Disaggregation mode examples: Proportional if aggregated value is not zero; otherwise, equal distribution (2) At the aggregated level, you have increased the quantity from 0 to 100. Since the initial aggregated value was 0, disaggregation distributes the quantity equally. Before Aggregated level: Change quantity After 0 100 Disaggregation Lowest level: Public 0 0 0 0 25 25 25 25 Equal distribution 288 Disaggregation mode examples: Copy Value At the aggregated level, you have increased the quantity from 50 to 100. No matter what the initial aggregated value was, disaggregation just copies the quantity to the values at the lowest level. Before Aggregated level: Change quantity 50 After 100 Disaggregation Lowest level: Public 10 10 10 20 100 100 100 100 Copy value 289 Disaggregation mode examples: Proportional if aggregated value is not zero; otherwise copy value to (1) At the aggregated level, you have increased the quantity from 50 to 100. Since the initial aggregated value was greater than 0 (50), disaggregation distributes the changed quantity proportionally to the initial lowest-level values. Before Aggregated level: Change quantity After 50 100 Disaggregation Lowest level: Public 10 10 10 20 20 20 20 40 Proportional distribution 290 Disaggregation mode examples: Proportional if aggregated value is not zero; otherwise copy value to (2) At the aggregated level, you have increased the quantity from 0 to 100. Since the initial aggregated value was 0, disaggregation just copies the changed quantity to the lowest-level values. Before Aggregated level: Change quantity 0 After 100 Disaggregation Lowest level: Public 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Copy 291 Read and Write Permissions And Rejection of Changes Read and write permissions in SAP IBP – overview Using permission filters, your administrator can limit your read and write permissions to certain data in SAP IBP. Example 1: Restricting data that is visible to you → You can see data for customers in the region North America, but not for other regions. Example 2: Restricting data that you can change → Public You can see data for customers in the region North America, but you can only change key figure values for customers in the country Canada and only for products for which you are responsible. 293 Missing write permissions (1) You are assigned the permission filter that is visible in the screenshot on the right side. In the planning view, you have changed the values in the blue cells. (Note that you have changed key figure values for objects for which your are not authorized, such as, product HT_002). Then you have clicked Save Changes or Simulate (Basic). Public 294 Missing write permissions (2) You receive the following pop-up with an error message and various options to choose from. Opens a new window with details of the noneditable cells Highlights the cells for which you have no permission to change the values Public Closes the pop-up, no changes are sent to the SAP IBP database Sends only the valid changes for which you have permission to the SAP IBP database 295 Missing write permissions – resend changes When you decide to resend the changes, the SAP IBP system rejects the changes for cells for which you do not have permission. You can see that only the cells for which you have permission are actually changed. Public 296 Missing write permissions – highlighting non-editable cells The 6 cells highlighted in yellow are not-editable for the user, according to the assigned permission filter. The highlights are removed from the planning view only after you save the valid changes. Public 297 Missing write permissions – details for rejected cells You get additional information, for example which planning objects are not editable, the old value, and the new value that you have entered. Public 298 Missing permissions – continue work When you click Continue Work, the error message disappears and you can continue to work with the planning view. The changed values stay. Public 299 Missing permissions – jump to rejected cell in planning view If you click the values in the column New Value in the Details of the Rejected Cells window, the cursor automatically jumps to this cell in the planning view. Public 300 10) Change History Views Change history views – overview You can review and analyze changes to the key figure data directly in the Excel add-in. The change history view displays changes according to your selection. For example, it shows changes made in a certain time period, by a specific user, or with a specific reason code. Change History app on the Web UI Public Change history view in the Excel add-in 302 Change history views – prerequisites in planning area configuration To enable the tracking of the key figure changes in a planning area, the administrator needs to select the Planning Area Enabled checkbox in the Change History section. Public 303 Change history views – prerequisites in key figure configuration In addition, the administrator needs to select the Change History Enabled checkbox for each key figure that needs to be tracked. Key figures that are calculated from change history enabled key figures are tracked automatically. Public 304 Change history views – example Key Figure Stored Calculated Change-history enabled Change history visible in Excel? KF1 X X Yes Yes KF2 X No No No Yes KF3 X (KF3 = KF1 * KF2) Key figure changes are tracked for KF3 because it is calculated from the change-historyenabled key figure KF1. Please be careful. The administrator needs to keep the performance aspects in mind. An “accidental” mass tracking of key figures that are calculated from a change history enabled key figure can have a negative impact on performance. Public 305 Change history views – settings To define the change history view from scratch in the Excel add-in, open a blank worksheet and select New View → Change History View on Current Sheet. Public 306 Comparing effects view and original changes view Two different change history views are available, which serve different use cases. Effects of Changes on Planning View Original Changes The Effects of Changes on Planning View option (effects view) provides a summary of changes that happened to the data that you select using the following criteria: The Original Changes option (original changes view) displays the changes exactly at the level where they have been made. You use this view if you are interested in identifying the origin of changes. • The time range of the changes • The attributes of your planning view, such as, product ID, customer ID, or location ID (planning level) • The key figures you are interested in • Time periodicity and time periods Additionally, you can set filters according to your requirements. Public For example, you come across changed key figures in your planning view. You want to find the reasons for the changes, which most likely lie at a different planning level. The original changes view helps answering the following questions: at which level have the key figures been changed originally, by whom, with which reason code? The original changes view is based on the time range of changes and the key figures you specify. Optionally, you can set filters according to your requirements. The system automatically detects the planning level and the time periods where the changes were made. 307 Effects view – settings (1) 1 2 3 Public On the Change History tab, you can determine the changes to be displayed as 1 follows: • Changes that happened in a certain time interval 2 • Changes identified by a certain change ID (A change ID is a technical ID, automatically created by the system, that points to a specific change or set of changes*. A change ID can include multiple changed values: if a user changes multiple values and clicks Save, one change ID is assigned.) 3 In addition, you can define which values should be shown, for example, only the value before the change or the difference between old and new value. 308 Effects view – settings (2) On the Time tab, you can define the usual time settings, such as, the period and the time horizon. Public 309 Effects view – settings (3) On the Planning Level tab, two attributes are already preselected for a change history view: • Change ID • Type of Value: You need to add at least one additional attribute to further structure the data within the planning view, such as, the product name. The change ID is not mandatory and can be deselected. Public 310 Effects view – settings (4) On the Key Figures tab, you can select the key figures for which you want to see the changes. The key figures that are highlighted in bold are the ones that were change history enabled in the configuration or calculated from a change history enabled key figure. You can also add other key figures to the effects view, for example, if you want to check dependencies between the change history enabled key figures with other key figures. Public 311 Effects view – settings (5) On the Filter tab, there are two additional attributes that you can use to further filter the data: • Reason Code Note that reason codes need to be enabled in the system to use this feature. • Changed By Filters the changes made by the selected users. Public 312 Effects view – results visualization (1) Public 313 Effects view – results visualization (2) The effects view includes a header and the results comparison: • Header: shows the change IDs for which reason codes or comments are available. In addition, the respective change date and time, user, reason code, and comment are listed. • Results Comparison: lists the detailed change history of the data, grouped by your selected attributes, the change ID, the type of the value (dependent on your settings), and the key figures. Public 314 Effects view – results visualization (3) • The change history view can be saved as a favorite, but not as a template. • Formatting sheets can be used, for example, for formatting purposes and to increase the usability. • You can enhance, for example, the appearance of the change history views with VBA code. However, the size of the change history header (number of rows) is determined by the number of relevant change IDs. The rows are deleted completely at refresh and then created again, depending on the required number of rows. Therefore, all changes to the header area, such as formatting or charts, get lost. Public 315 Original changes view The Original Changes option (original changes view) shows the manual changes that were made for a specific key figure during a defined time range or for a specific change ID (which is automatically generated when you save data). • You don’t need to define a planning level or time settings, because the system automatically detects the planning level and time periods. • You only select the relevant key figures. • The system then shows the following data: − Relevant settings (planning level, filter, conversions) that were used at the time when the change was made − Dates and time when the changes were made − Reason codes and comments − Key figure value before and after the change Public 316 Original changes view – changes at a single planning level Before saving, a user changes multiple key figure values at the same planning level. When saving, the changes get assigned one change ID. Example: User ABC changed values for two brands These changes get captured with the same change ID 140685/1. That the changes happened at the same planning level is indicated by “/1”. Public 317 Original changes view – changes at multiple planning levels Before saving, the user changes key figure values at different planning levels. When the planning view is saved, the changes made at different planning levels get assigned different change IDs, one for each planning level. Example: • First the user ABC changes values at the level of Brand ID, Customer Desc., and Location Region, and then uses Simulate (Basic). • Then the user ABC changes the planning level (by adding Product ID) and changes data at this planning level, before clicking Save. The changes get assigned the change IDs 140690/1 and 140690/2. “/1” and “/2” indicate the two different planning levels. Public 318 Navigating from the planning view to the original changes view 1. Select an area in the planning view for which you want to see the change history. 2. Right-click the area to call the context menu and choose Show Change History. 3. The change history pop-up opens. 4. Select the time range for which you want to see the changes. All other settings are prefilled according to your selection in the planning view (see next slide) but you can still adjust the settings. 5. You will only see the change history if the change history is enabled for that key figure. Public 319 Navigating from the planning view to the original changes view – filter settings In some cases, you see more attribute combinations in the change history view than what you selected in the planning view. Example: You select a range of cells that includes the following location products: • Product PROD_001 at location LOC_001 • Product PROD_002 at location LOC_002. The filter criteria for the change history get automatically prefilled with the following data: • Product = PROD_001; PROD_002 • Location = LOC_001; LOC_002 With these filter criteria, the change history displays all location product combinations for PROD_001, PROD_002, LOC_001, and LOC_002. Public 320 Navigating from the effects view to the original changes view 1. 2. Public Select one or multiple change IDs for which you want to see the change history. You can select the ID either in the view, as shown in the screenshot, or in the header of the change history view. Right-click and choose Show details for these changes. 321 11) Working Offline with Planning Views Working offline with planning views – overview You can work offline with the SAP IBP planning views, and later save your data changes to the SAP IBP database. You can take a planning view offline in the following ways: • Log off from the SAP IBP system and keep the Microsoft Excel workbook open if you just want to make a short break, or save the workbook to your local computer, close it and open it again without logging on. • Choose Go offline in the Data Input group of the SAP IBP ribbon. Advantages • You don‘t have to be online to edit data. • In the offline workbook, you can change key figure values and when you're done working offline, you can log on to the SAP IBP system and save the data to the SAP IBP database. Public 323 Working offline with planning views – details • You are working with the local data. As long as you are working offline, you cannot get the latest data from the SAP IBP database. (Refresh is only available online). • The same is true as for working online: if a colleague is changing the same data in the SAP IBP backend while you are working on it offline, you will not be informed about the changes they make. When you log on again and save the changes you made while working offline, you might overwrite the data entered by your colleague (last one wins). • You must not change the master data attributes (such as names) in the offline version, as the SAP IBP system checks against these when saving and would not recognize them anymore. • If the master data attributes you are using in your planning view are changed in the SAP IBP backend while you are working offline (for example, a product is renamed and you have the attribute product name with that product as part of your planning view), the system rejects all of your changes when you try to save. • It is not recommended to perform mass changes to the planning view and save these at once, due to performance reasons. • You cannot fix values or create planning notes while you are working offline. However, draft planning notes and fixing indicators that you have created but not saved before you logged off are not lost and you can save them later on when logged on again. Public 324 12) Sharing Planning Views with non-SAP IBP users Offline mode for planning views With the offline mode, you can easily share your planning views with users who do not have the Excel add-in installed. These users can open and work with the planning views (for example, update key figure values) as a normal Excel workbook file, send it back to you as an Excel workbook, and you can then set it to online mode again and upload their changes to the SAP IBP system. Public 326 Offline mode for planning views – conversion of SAP IBP formulas If you choose Go Offline in the Data Input group of the SAP IBP ribbon, your current workbook, including all sheets, is converted to a Microsoft Excel workbook that no longer contains the SAP IBP references and formulas, so that it can be understood by Microsoft Excel installations that don’t have the Excel add-in installed. Example: SAP IBP formulas and references in a planning view (online mode): This online SAP IBP formula can only be understood by Microsoft Excel installations that also have the Excel add-in installed. SAP IBP formulas and references in a converted planning view (offline mode): This offline formula can be understood by all Microsoft Excel installations, even without the Excel add-in installed. Public 327 Offline mode for planning views – sheet protection If you choose Go Offline in the Data Input group of the SAP IBP ribbon, your current workbook, including all sheets, is also protected against changes that would destroy its structure and later on make it impossible for you to take it onlie again and save the changes. Only the data input area can be used in the offline mode. If you click in any other area (highlighted in red in the screenshot), a warning comes up and their action is blocked. For example, you can’t change the name of a key figure or an attribute value or remove rows from the sheet. Please note that the SAP IBP formatting sheet is not protected against changes. Public 328 Offline mode for planning views – available Microsoft Excel functions When you take a planning view workbook offline (by choosing Go offline), the following Microsoft Excel functions are available: • Use AutoFilter • Format columns: Use any of the column formatting commands of Microsoft Excel, including changing column width or hiding columns. • Format rows: Use any of the row formatting commands of Microsoft Excel, including changing row height or hiding rows. • Group and Ungroup: Expand or collapse a group of cells that is included in your planning view workbook. However, it is not possible to create new groups. Format columns, Format rows, and Group and Ungroup are available as of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in. Public 329 Filtering data in offline mode To enable filtering for the users who want to work with a planning view in offline mode, additional settings are required. These need to be made by the user who enables the offline mode in an SAP IBP workbook, as follows: 1) Make sure that the Repeat row headers checkbox is selected. You find the checkbox in the About area of the SAP IBP ribbon under Settings -> Options on the Formatting tab. 2) Enable the Microsoft Excel filtering for the planning view: a. Select the headers in the planning view that you want to be filter-enabled. b. On the Data tab of the Microsoft Excel ribbon, choose Filter. 3) Choose Go Offline and send the offline workbook to the users who want to work offline with the planning view. Public 330 Offline mode for planning view – going online After you have got the file back and want to upload any data changes to the SAP IBP system, you can open the Excel workbook and log on to SAP IBP, which automatically sets the workbook to online mode again. If you are already logged on to SAP IBP when opening the offline workbook, choose Go online in the SAP IBP ribbon. Afterwards, choose Save Data to upload the data changes. Public 331 Offline mode for planning views Using the offline mode in mixed workbooks with SAP IBP and EPM sheet types Only sheets with worksheet type SAP IBP will be set to offline mode when you use the Go Offline feature on the SAP IBP ribbon. If you are using Microsoft Excel workbooks that contain a mixture of SAP IBP and EPM worksheet types, and want the EPM sheets to be set to offline mode as well, you also have to choose Offline Mode on the EPM ribbon. Otherwise these sheets would stay online. The same behavior applies when you want the workbook to go online again. Public 332 13) Application Jobs in the Excel Add-In Application jobs in SAP IBP Planning algorithms and other tasks can be run as background jobs in SAP IBP. Usually, these background jobs are scheduled by a central team (administrators or configuration experts), but there are also uses cases where planners can rerun or schedule them manually in the Excel add-in. Example: Demand planning is done every month. At the beginning of the month, the statistical forecasting jobs are run automatically. After that, the sales and marketing colleagues add their information to the forecast. Background jobs can perform different planning tasks. Some are used more for housekeeping purposes. Examples: • • • • • • • • • • Copy and disaggregate key figures Inventory optimization Statistical forecasting Forecast error calculation Time-series-based supply planning (using the heuristic or the optimizer) ABC/XYZ segmentation Deployment run or confirmation run in order-based planning Realignment of planning data Taking snapshots Purging key figure data Public 334 Application jobs on the Web UI and in the Excel add-in Application Jobs app on Web UI Application Jobs in Excel add-in • Advanced scheduling options • Definition of job chains and templates • More detailed parameter settings for some operators • Log overview • Saved planning filters only • Quick access for planners to run application jobs directly from the Excel add-in • Note that not all application jobs can be run from Excel. Some are only available on the Web UI. • Basic job scheduling options • Business logs with filtering • Use of job chains and templates that were set up on the Web UI • Basic parameter settings for some planning operators • You cannot define detailed settings and configuration of planning operators in the Excel add-in. This can only be done on the Web UI. • Ad-hoc filters to run and schedule jobs Recommendation: Use this area to set up job schedules. Public 335 Running operators as application jobs in Excel add-in – prerequisites The administrator needs to do the following for planning operators: • Set up the specific configuration on the Web UI. The configuration defines how the operators are working (for example, what are the input and output key figures, what are the specific parameters and settings,…) • Assign them to the planning area. • Grant the users sufficient permissions to run the relevant application jobs. Example for Planning Operators: Note that not all operators can be started as application jobs in the Excel add-in. The following operators are available: • Copy Operator (Advanced) • Statistical Forecasting • Forecast Error • Inventory Optimization • S&OP Operator (heuristic and optimizer for time-series based supply planning) • Demand-driven Replenishment • Snapshot • Redo Snapshot The following other application jobs and templates are available: • Version Copy • Application Job Templates Public Version Copy: Application Job Templates: 336 Running an operator as application job You can start an application job by selecting Run in the respective dropdown menu in the Application Jobs group of the SAP IBP ribbon. Depending on the application job, you first select the planning operator that you want to run and then set different parameters. Some examples: Define filter criteria Select the Operator Profile Choose Currency and UoM if possible Define Scenario and Version Public 337 Running application job templates in the Excel add-in Your administrator can also define application job templates in the SAP IBP backend and make them available in the Excel add-in. These templates can consist of different steps and operators (job chains, for example) and can also contain operators that you can normally not start directly from the Excel addin, such as, operators for order-based planning, data integration via CPI-DS, ABC & XYZ segmentation and more. However, you cannot freely define any settings (such as, scenarios or horizons) for these templates but have to reuse the settings that the administrator made when setting up the template. Public 338 Information message displayed when you run application jobs As of version 2305.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the information message that is displayed when you run application jobs from the Application Jobs group of the SAP IBP ribbon works in the following way: ▪ The status of the job is displayed within the message and is refreshed every 5 seconds. ▪ You can keep the message open and continue working until the status changes to Finished. (The message does not block Excel.) ▪ To check further details you can open the Status dialog by choosing the Navigate to Status button. Note: The same applies when you copy versions by using the Manage function in the Versions group of the SAP IBP ribbon. Public 339 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Overview When running or scheduling application jobs in the Excel add-in, in many cases the job should be triggered for the data set shown in the planning view. With version 2211.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the planning view settings of the open worksheet are copied to the application job definition per default, when you choose Run or Schedule in the Application Jobs group. This saves time, you don‘t need to select the same settings again. Additional details: ▪ If you decide that you don‘t need this new function, it‘s possible to disable it by using the User Settings available under Settings in the About group of the SAP IBP ribbon. ▪ An information message explains which settings are copied to inform the end user about the changed behavior when running or scheduling application jobs. Public 340 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Related user setting In the User Settings in the Application Jobs section, you will find the Copy planning view settings checkbox. By default, the checkbox for this setting is selected when using version 2211.2.0 of the Excel add-in. The checkbox Show information message lets you decide whether you want the related information message to show up, when running or scheduling application jobs. By default it is selected. Public 341 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Copied planning view settings Depending on the type of application job, the following settings of the Create Planning View or Edit Planning View dialog are copied: ▪ Scenarios ▪ Versions ▪ Planning Scope ▪ Time period ▪ Attributes ▪ Conversions selected on the Key Figures tab ▪ Attribute-Based Filter selected on the Filter tab Please note: If you have a change history view open, the settings available in the Create Change History View or Edit Change History View dialog are copied. Public 342 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Information message An information message tells you which settings are copied when you run or schedule a specific application job. By selecting the checkbox Don‘t show again, the information message won‘t show up any further for your user and the system and planning area you are connected to. Consequently, the user setting Show information message will automatically be deselected. Public 343 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Example for Copy Operator (Advanced) Public 344 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Example for Statistical Forecasting Public 345 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Example for Inventory Planning (Advanced) Please note: For Inventory Planning (Advanced) the Planning Scope settings are copied. The same applies for S&OP Operator and Demand-Driven Replenishment. Public 346 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Restrictions S&OP Operator If S&OP Operator V2 is enabled for the Excel add-in (global configuration parameter EXCEL_SOP_UI_2 is set to YES) the following applies depending on the version of the Excel add-in the business user is using: Version of the Excel Add-In Restrictions Version lower than 2305.2.0 and higher than 2211.2.0 ▪ The version and scenario of the planning scope settings can only be copied if one version and one scenario is selected. ▪ From and To time periods of the planning scope are not copied, as the time level can differ. ▪ Subnetwork IDs are copied if Subnetwork by Subnetwork ID is selected in the Network/Subnetwork dropdown. ▪ The attribute-based filter is not copied as Subnetwork by Filter. This is because the subnetwork filter differs from the attribute-based filter in the planning view, as not all attributes can be used as filter criteria. For more information, see Selecting Subnetworks by ID or by Filter. Version higher than 2305.2.0 ▪ From and To time periods of the planning scope settings are not copied if multiple time levels exist, and the time level of the first selected operator differs from the one selected in the planning scope settings. ▪ The attribute-based filter is not copied in any case. For S&OP operators, we do not offer a dedicated filter tab, but subnetwork filter possibilities instead, which are defined in the planning scope settings. For more information, see Selecting Subnetworks by ID or by Filter Public 347 Copy planning view settings for application jobs Filter tab not enabled For some available application jobs, the Filter tab is disabled depending on their configuration (such as Application Job Templates or Copy Operator (Advanced)) In this case, the attribute-based filter of the planning view is copied, but is only used for those planning operators that have the Filter tab enabled. The same applies to conversions, which can be enabled or disabled Public 348 Filter criteria for application jobs You can set filter criteria for most planning operators. It is highly recommended that you use this function to limit the amount of data that is copied, purged, or planned. Public 349 Subnetwork – overview A subnetwork (previously also called planning unit) is a subsection of the overall supply chain network for which a planner is responsible or that the planner wants to plan in a separate planning run (for example, all location products in a particular region or all location products in a particular product group). Similar to the master data model for the entire supply chain network, a subnetwork consists of nodes (that is, location products) and arcs (which are used to model the transport links between the location products). You define the subnetwork to which a location product belongs in the location product master data. You can define subnetworks for product groups or regions, or for any other property of locations, products, or location products. When you start an application job, you select one or more subnetworks that are to be taken into account by the planning algorithm. This defines the set of location products that are to be planned. Subnetworks are relevant (but not mandatory) for inventory optimization, time-series based supply and demand-driven replenishment planning operators . Public 350 Subnetworks in the Excel add-in Run S&OP operator as an application job: If subnetworks have been set-up for your planning area, you can select them when starting the respective operator in the Excel add-in. Furthermore, you can select the respective time horizon for the planning scope for time-series based supply planning operators. Simulation runs For planning operator simulation runs, you need to select the subnetworks that you want to plan in the relevant Planning Scope tab in the Workbook Settings side panel in the Create or Edit Planning View dialog. Set planning scope in planning view definition in the Workbook Settings side panel: You can define default values for subnetworks in the User Settings. For more information, see SAP Help portal at Subnetworks. Public 351 Subnetworks in the Excel add-in using S&OP Operator V2 (1/2) As of version 2208.2.0 of the Excel add-in, the same improved functions as have been provided by the application job templates S&OP Operator V2 and S&OP Optimizer Explanation V2 are available in the S&OP Operator function of the Excel add-in. When running or scheduling an S&OP operator, you can choose one of the following options in the Network/Subnetwork field: • Subnetwork by Subnetwork ID • Subnetwork by Filter • Forecast Consumption Filter (The different options in the Network/Subnetwork dropdown depend on the operator and whether subnetworks are set up.) Please note: • Your administrator must make some configuration settings for the improved functions to become available to you, see S&OP Operator V2 Available in the Application Jobs Group of the SAP IBP Ribbon • Version 2208.2.0 of the Excel add-in does not support the advanced functions of the S&OP Operator V2 in simulation mode. • To be able to use the advanced functions of the S&OP Operator V2 in simulation mode you need to install version 2305.2.0 or newer of the Excel add-in, see SAP Help portal at Running S&OP Operator V2 in the SAP IBP, Add-In for Microsoft Excel for detailed information about S&OP Operator V2 in the Excel add-in. Public 352 Subnetworks in the Excel add-in using S&OP Operator V2 (2/2) The option Subnetwork by Filter allows you to plan specific location products based on the attributes of the master data types location, product, or location product. You can use either a predefined filter or you can manually specify the filter criteria. Please note: Only attributes of the master data types location, product, or location product can be used as filter criteria, so you might not be able to select all of your saved filters. See SAP Help Portal at Selecting Subnetworks by ID or by Filter for more information. Public 353 Explanation of S&OP optimizer results The optimizer for time-series-based supply planning can provide additional information about the planning results. You can select the issue types for which you want to have explanations (for example, why demands were not met or inventory targets were missed). This feature needs to be activated by your administrator. For more information, see Explanation of Optimizer Results on the SAP Help Portal. Public 354 Explanation of S&OP optimizer results – time horizon settings As of version 2211.2.0 of the Excel add-in, when you run an optimizer enabled for explanation (the Explain Optimization Results checkbox has been selected in the profile for the time-series-based supply planning optimizer), the time horizon on the Explanation tab is now empty by default, and you need to select the relevant time horizon. We recommend using the explanation function with caution and only if needed, as it is performance intensive. When using the explanation function, please restrict the time horizon to the time periods where problems have been detected. Public 355 Scheduling an application job To schedule a job, choose Schedule from the respective planning operator’s drop down menu. Adjust all settings and parameters, set a filter, and use the Recurrence tab to define the schedule. Provide a job name and click Add. The job is automatically scheduled and will show up in the Status window of the planning operator. Click Add to save and schedule the job Public 356 Application job status • An information message informs you that the application job was started. • When this message is displayed, the application job is queued and will start to run as soon as possible. • You can check the status of the job in the status window. • All jobs for the specified planning area that were run or are scheduled are listed. Older past jobs are removed after a reasonable time period. • The status Finished means the job finished successfully. The status Error means that an error occurred and the job did not run successfully. • To see the log, click on Finished or Error in the Status column. Public 357 Job log Depending on the planning operator, a simple log or a more advanced business log is available that you can analyze. Simple Log: Public 358 Business logging Business logging provides more detailed logs on the planning object level, such as, location product. These logs are created when running S&OP operators (operators for time-series-based supply planning) or the operators for statistical forecasting. The new logging structure also allows you to filter for specific planning objects or information within the job logs. For example, you can prefilter the log by attributes (see next slides). And later on, in the log itself, further filters for the attributes are available: • Severity of the message • Message text • Date and time • Forecast model and step (statistical forecasting only) • Planning period (S&OP operator only) Public 359 Business logging – example Public 360 Business logging for statistical forecasting For statistical forecasting logs, you can filter using the same attributes you selected as planning level attributes within your job definition. Public 361 Business logging for S&OP operators For logs for S&OP operators (operators for time-series based supply planning), you can filter by the default attributes that are used within the S&OP operator jobs. Public 362 Running simulations for long-running operators as application jobs in a scenario – overview After you have changed key figure values in the planning view, you can start planning operators in simulation mode to see the impact of your changes on the plan, without interfering with the productive data. Note that some planning operators, such as, the operator for multi-stage inventory optimization or the optimizer for time-series-based supply planning replan the entire network. Such a huge planning scope run in simulation mode can result in a long runtime. To avoid this, you can run the application jobs in a scenario instead. With that, you still do not interfere with the productive data, but the application job is running in the background and does not hinder you from working. Public 363 Running simulations for long-running operators as application jobs in a scenario – how-to 1) Change the data in your planning view. 2) Create a scenario. 3) Run the planning operator as an application job and select your scenario. Deselect the Baseline Scenario. 4) After the job is finished, you can see the changes within your scenario, discard the scenario, or continue with the changes up to the point where you promote your scenario to the baseline. Public 364 14) Master Data Maintenance Making changes to the master data in the Excel add-in • The basic assumption for SAP IBP is that master data records are imported from a leading system on a regular basis, using standard data integration (CPI-DS). Examples of leading systems include systems for master data management, BW systems, ERP systems, such as SAP ERP or SAP S/4HANA. • However, there might be reasons and use cases where the master data in SAP IBP can differ from the data in the leading systems, for example: − A new product is introduced and needs to be planned before the product record is set up in the ERP system. − There are master data attributes defined in SAP IBP that don’t exist in the leading system, for example ABC codes, because they are only required for planning purposes. • Therefore, users who have sufficient authorizations can create new master data records, and change and delete existing records. • The user needs to have write permissions set in the Attribute Permissions app on the Web UI for the respective attributes. • Note that this feature is not intended for mass upload and change of master data records. Public 366 Single master data maintenance Managing single master data records • You can access a single master data record, such as, a product, including all of its master data attributes. • You can view • You can delete , copy , and edit the master data attributes for a single master data record. the whole master data record. • You can create a new master data record and the associated attributes. Public 368 Example: Attribute permissions (write access) in the single master data view (1) Example: You don’t have write access for the attribute Customer ID If Customer ID is a key field and you select the master data type Customer, the Create New Record, Copy Record, and Delete Record buttons aren't shown. You can still edit all attributes related to that master data type for existing master data records. Public 369 Example: Attribute permissions (write access) in the single master data view (2) Example: You don’t have write access for the attribute Product Group The attribute Product Group is not a key field in the master data type Product, so you can use the View, Add, Edit, Copy, and Delete buttons in the Product master data records. You can't edit the attribute Product Group in this case. That is the reason why the font color in this field is grey. Public 370 Master data workbook Maintenance of master data using the master data workbook • You can access multiple master data types and mass records in parallel. • You can view, copy, and edit the master data attributes for master data records. • You can create a new master data record and the associated attributes. • A master data workbook can include multiple worksheets, one worksheet per master data type. • You cannot delete master data records in the master data workbook. This is only possible in single master data maintenance. Public 372 Creating a view in the master data workbook Choose the master data type. Select Edit to be able to change master data records. Use attribute filters to limit or specify the master data records that you want to see. You can create a master data workbook containing multiple sheets. Each sheet shows the records of a different master data type. Public 373 Using a common filter and suggesting worksheets When creating a master data workbook, you can define a common filter. The filter is used for all worksheets that you create. You can also let the system suggest worksheets that fit this filter: For each master data type that contains the attributes specified in the filter, the system suggests one worksheet. Example You have defined a common filter that is filtering for certain product IDs. The system suggests all master data types where the product ID is an attribute. Public 374 Display Changed By/On and Created By/On information in master data workbooks With Excel add-in version 2305.2.0 or newer, you can check when specific master data entries have been last changed and by whom. Per default, the following noneditable columns are added to the master data workbook: ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ Changed By Changed On Created By Created On If you don’t want the columns to be displayed, you can ask your administrator to change the value of the global configuration parameter EXCEL_MASTER_DATA_ADMIN_FIELDS from the default YES to NO. Public 375 Display Changed By/On and Created By/On information in master data workbooks Public 376 Display Changed By/On and Created By/On information in master data workbooks Please note the following: ▪ Even if it is possible to edit the cells of the columns Changed By, Changed On, Created By and Created On in the Excel add-in, the changes you make are not recognized and are ignored when you choose Save Changes in the Master Data group of the SAP IBP ribbon. ▪ After you have changed existing master data entries, or added new ones in the master data workbook, you need to choose Refresh in the Master Data group if you want to see the updated values for Changed By, Changed On, Created By and Created On. ▪ The timestamps are displayed in UTC and formatted according to your Microsoft Windows Region settings for Date and time formats. Microsoft Excel recognizes the timestamps as such, and you can filter on them by using the native Filter function in Microsoft Excel. ▪ If the time is exactly set to 00:00:00, the Microsoft Excel default applies, and only the date is displayed. You can change the format of the cells by choosing Format Cells… in the Microsoft Excel context menu. Public 377 Using master data favorites If you want to save the current workbook as a favorite for future easier accessibility, you can create a master data favorite and share the workbook favorite with other users. In the Favorites drop down menu, you can create and manage favorites: • Add a new favorite • Access, update, or delete existing favorites • Organize the favorites in a folder structure Please note that structural changes or formatting changes that you made manually in the master data workbook (such as hiding and reordering columns, or adding background colors) are not saved as part of the favorite and will be lost. If you need permanent structural and formatting changes, contact your administrator. They can use VBA hooks to influence the appearance of the master data workbook: Extensibility Using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) SAP Help Portal Public 378 Editing the master data workbook You can edit the master data workbook at any time. Public 379 Refreshing the master data workbook Use Refresh to discard all unsaved changes to the master data workbook and to get the lastest data from the SAP IBP database. Public 380 Do’s and don’ts for changing entries in the master data workbook You can: • Delete rows that will not change (does not delete records, improves performance) • Cut a row or column and paste it elsewhere • Add data rows directly after the downloaded rows • Insert data rows between downloaded rows • Change record keys (for example, product ID) to create a new record Do not: • Delete key columns or other mandatory columns (for example, the Product ID column) • Make changes to hidden row 1 or hidden column A • Create gaps between rows or columns • Modify large numbers of records while other users are logged in (for performance reasons and to keep the data consistent for these users) • Please note that master data workbooks cannot be used in offline mode. The SAP IBP backend only recognizes a workbook as a master data workbook if you are logged on to the SAP IBP backend. If you log off from the SAP IBP backend while a master data workbook is open and then log on again, the SAP IBP backend will no longer recognize it. Your previous unsaved changes in the master data workbook are lost. Public 381 Example: creating new master data records for a new product The new product PRODNEW is introduced and all relevant master data needs to be created for the product. PRODNEW is very similar to the already existing product PRODOLD. You can achieve this as follows: 1. Open the master data workbook. 2. Select Common Filter and define the filter Product = PRODOLD. 3. Click Suggest Sheets, delete the worksheets you do not need, select the Edit checkbox on all worksheets and click OK. 4. Worksheets are created for all master data types that contain the product as a key or attribute. They get filled with the existing master data of product PRODOLD. 5. Go through the worksheets and replace PRODOLD with PRODNEW using the Find and Replace Excel feature. Make manual changes as needed in order to define all master data information for the new product. 6. Save the changes. 7. Master data is created for the new product. Public 382 Saving changes Save Changes sends the continuous range of cells starting from cell B3 to the SAP IBP backend. Hence, deleting rows that have not changed before saving improves the performance, as less data has to be send and checked by the SAP IBP backend. Please note: Deleting a row does not delete the record in the SAP IBP backend. When finished, the system offers a summary of the changes and you can download a report. This is useful, for example, if data changes have rejected and you want to analyze the reasons. Public 383 Processing of master data changes in master data workbooks Reports and application log • When master data values are created, or changed, an application log is created. • You can find application logs for a master data type by searching for the master data type in the Application Logs app. The improvements described here do not apply to external master data types. Public 384 Processing of master data changes in master data workbooks Reports and application log • The full report as well as the error report can be found attached to the log in the Application Logs app. The improvements described here do not apply to external master data types. Public 385 Processing of master data changes in master data workbooks Reports and application log Both reports contain the following information: • The Status column lets you know whether the changes have been successfully processed. • The Rejection Code and Rejection Description columns explain why the change was rejected by the system. • The list of attributes of the master data records. The improvements described here do not apply to external master data types. Public 386 Processing of the deletion of single master data records Application log • When single master data records are deleted using Manage -> Single... in the SAP IBP ribbon in the Master Data group, an additional application log is created. • You can find application logs for a master data type by searching for the master data type in the Application Logs app. The improvements described here do not apply to external master data types. Public 387 Processing of the deletion of single master data records Attached information You can find the following additional information attached to the application log as a .csv file: • The master data record that was deleted. • The number of deleted records for all affected master data types. • The number of deleted planning objects and planning object records for all dependent planning areas, versions, scenarios, and planning levels. The improvements described here do not apply to external master data types. Public 388 Example: attribute permissions (write access) in the master data workbook (1) Example: You don’t have write access for the attribute Customer ID which is a key field. You can select the master data type Customer and select Edit: In the workbook itself, the Customer ID values are marked with a grey background to indicate that they are not editable. Because the Customer ID is a key field, you get an error message upon saving when you try to create, copy or delete a master data record. Public 389 Example: attribute permissions (write access) in the master data workbook (2) Example: You don’t have write access for the attribute Product Group. You can select the master data type Product and select Edit: In the workbook itself, the Product Group values have a grey background. If you edit the attribute values for Product Group and save these changes, the system disregards the changes. Public 390 Formatting sheets in the master data book using VBA hooks The appearance of the master data worksheets can be changed by using custom VBA code. This is usually implemented centrally by an administrator or IT department. Examples: - Change the sorting of the columns from the default (alphabetical) to a custom order - Hide columns by default - Change formatting, like background color or font color for certain attributes - Apply custom functions such as VLOOKUP - Apply a value help for certain attributes, such as A, B, or C for the ABC Code More information: Extensibility Using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) - SAP Help Portal Public 391 15) Planning object maintenance Planning objects in SAP IBP ▪ Planning in SAP IBP is based on planning objects. ▪ A planning object is a single entity for which you can perform planning. It is identified by a combination of master data attribute values. Example: The location product with the master data attribute values PRODUCT_A and LOCATION_B is represented by a planning object. Note: A planning object is comparable to a characteristic value combination in SAP APO. ▪ Before an attribute value combination can be planned in SAP IBP or displayed in the Excel add-in, a planning object needs to be generated in SAP IBP (such as PRODUCT_A -LOCATION_B). Without a planning object, there can be no planning for this combination. ▪ There is an additional condition for being able to plan a planning object: It needs to be assigned a time dimension (a time series, basically). ▪ Planning objects are generated in SAP IBP as follows: ▪ Planning objects are automatically generated – including the time dimension - when transactional data is uploaded during data integration (for example, from SAP ERP), or when key figure values are uploaded as a CSV file using the Data Integration Jobs app. ▪ If only a master data record is uploaded to SAP IBP or created in the Excel add-in, no planning object is generated. You need to trigger the generation of the planning object (including the time dimension) explicitly. The next slides explain how to do this in the Excel add-in. ▪ For more information, see SAP Note 2798109 (https://launchpad.support.sap.com/#/notes/2798109). Public 393 Planning objects in SAP IBP - example 1. A user creates a new master data record: Product ID = NEWPRODUCT • At this point, the master data exists, but not the planning objects. • This means that this product ID does not show up in any planning view. 2. The user creates the planning objects for the new product based on the base level of a key figure which the user is planning. The base level of key figure is Product ID | Location ID | Customer ID | Weekly. Product ID Location ID Customer ID Week 1 Week 2 …. Week n NEWPRODUCT DC1 CUST-A NULL / Empty NULL … NULL (shows as empty cell in planning view) NEWPRODUCT DC1 CUST-B NULL NULL … NULL NEWPRODUCT DC2 CUST-C NULL NULL … NULL 3. The 3 combinations can now be planned upon and are visible in the Excel add-in. 4. Other combinations might theoretically be possible, for example a DC3, but might not be realistic. Therefore no planning should be possible. Example: DC3 is in Europe and the new product is only sold to US customers and is only distributed by US DCs. Note that the new master data record must already exist before you can create planning objects. Public 394 Creating planning objects There are two places where you can create new planning objects after you have created a new master data record for a new product: New Planning Object in the planning view Public Planning Objects with Key Figure Data in the master data workbook 395 Creating planning objects in the planning view – overview You can add new planning objects to a planning view. Note: Even if the planning view shows data at an aggregated planning level (for example, a region containing many locations), the records are created at the lowest level (for example, locations). You create planning objects, for example, to do the following: • Introduce a new product based on the planning objects of an existing product, directly in the Excel add-in without having to use data integration functions (such as, CPI-DS or the Data Integration app on the Web UI • Simulate selling a product in a new region or bringing a new plant online Please note: This function does not replace the data integration functions that are normally used in SAP IBP (such as, CPI-DS). We recommend that you use it to create and edit smaller numbers of planning objects and only from a low disaggregation level (such as, product ID). Public 396 Creating planning objects in the planning view (1) 1) Open a planning view that has the key figures and is in the planning level for which you want to create new planning objects. 2) Click New Planning Object. Public 397 Creating planning objects in the planning view (2) 3) In the New Planning Object window, select the master data records for which you want to create the planning objects. The attributes that are available in the New Planning Objects window are determined by the attributes that you selected as the planning level for your planning view. Public 398 Creating planning objects in the planning view (3) 4) Click Add. Please note that the system first simulates the new planning objects and shows the simulation results in the planning view. 5) Review the planning objects to verify the data is correct. Then click Save Data. Please note that the new planning objects will only be displayed in planning views if key figure values are associated to them. So if you want to immediately use the planning objects in a planning view, please enter key figure values before saving. Otherwise, the planning objects will not be displayed in the planning view. Public 399 Recommendations for creating new planning objects A mass creation of planning objects at a high level is not recommended, as the planning object records are created at the base level of the key figures (for example, product-location-customerdays). Example: You create planning objects at a high level such as brand = SHOES and the key figure base level is product-location-customer-days. In that case, the system creates planning objects for all available product-location-customer combinations (where the respective attribute brand = SHOES), with all locations, and all customers, and all days. This may result in many new planning objects that are logically wrong because the combination product New Shoe US / location Rome, Italy / customer Garibaldi (Italy) is never planned since the new product is only sold in the US market. Therefore, please create planning objects at the lowest level possible, OR use the SAP recommended way using Planning Objects with Key Figure Data in the master data workbook. Public 400 Creating planning objects with key figure data in the master data workbook (1) In the master data workbook, you can create, view, and edit planning objects and stored key figure data for a selected planning level. This is the recommended way to create planning objects manually in the Excel add-in: 1) Click Master Data Workbook. 2) Select Planning Objects with Key Figure Data from the drop down menu (instead of Master Data, which is the default setting) Public 401 Creating planning objects with key figure data in the master data workbook (2) 3) Select the relevant planning level and version. You can define several sheets for multiple relevant planning levels for which the planning objects need to be created. 4) Select a time horizon and a key figure for each sheet. Only key figures that store values can be selected. Calculated key figures are not shown in this list. 5) Use a filter if needed. 6) Select the Edit checkbox. 7) Click OK. Public 402 Creating planning objects with key figure data in the master data workbook (3) 8) The view shows all available planning objects for the selection. 9) Create a new planning object by adding a row or changing data. 10) Click Save Changes. 11) The planning objects are created in the SAP IBP backend. Depending on the data volume, this task might take some time. Public 403 Creating planning objects with key figure data in the master data workbook (4) 8) When finished, the system offers a summary of the changes. If, for example, data changes have been rejected, you can download the report and analyze it. 9) The planning view does not refresh automatically after you saved the changes. To refresh the screen, click Refresh. Public 404 Creating planning objects with key figure data – example (1) • Edit the master data at base level, for example, overwrite the product ID HT_001 of an existing planning object with the product ID HT_NEW_1 of the new planning object. • The new product ID must already exist as master data in the SAP IBP backend. Click Save Changes. The system creates the new planning objects for the new product ID and key figure data using the existing key figure values. You need to remove the key figure values if you don’t want them to be copied over to the new planning objects. (Empty cells are copied as NULL values.) • • • Public 405 Creating planning objects with key figure data – example (2) • To create a new planning object, you can also copy and paste an existing entry (the entire row, for example) to a new row. • Then proceed as in the previous slide. Public 406 Creating planning objects with key figure data – example (3) You can also use the Planning Objects with Key Figure Data view to overwrite the key figure values for the individual combinations. Public 407 16) Alert Key Figures and Dashboard Alert key figures in the planning view In configuration, the administrator can define alert key figures. Alert key figures can make the user aware of any data that hits a predefined threshold. For example, the capacity utilization exceeds 95%. Alerts can be displayed in the alerts dashboard of the planning view. If alert key figures have been configured for the planning area, the Alerts tab is available when you create and edit a planning view. On the Alerts tab you can define a formatting rule for a specific alert key figure, version and scenario and can add a name. If you save the planning view as a favorite the alert with its name is displayed in your Alert Dashboard. Note: • If you share a planning view favorite that contains alerts, the recipients don’t see the alerts in the alert dashboard. • Alert key figures do not work with the sheet option Remove Empty and Zero Values. Public 409 Alert key figures in the planning view - All Versions and All Scenarios for alerts (1) In the Edit Planning View or Create Planning View dialogs, you can define a formatting rule for alert key figures on the Alerts tab. When defining a formatting rule you need to select the version and the scenario to which the alert formatting should be applied. You can choose All Versions in the version dropdown of the alert definition and All Scenarios in the scenario dropdown, instead of selecting a specific version or scenario. This way, the alert formatting is applied to all valid version and scenario combinations that are selected in the Workbook Settings side panel. When changing the version or scenario in the Workbook Settings side panel, you do not need to adjust the alert definition if All Versions or All Scenarios was previously selected. The selection stays and can also be saved in templates and favorites. Please note: If you want to check the alert in different versions, the respective alert key figures and referenced key figures must be available in all relevant versions. Public This function is available as of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in. 410 Alert key figures in the planning view - All Versions and All Scenarios for alerts (2) If you select All Versions or All Scenarios when defining alert formatting, the text field for Name in Alert Dashboard (Favorites only) is deactivated. The respective alert key figures do not appear in the Alert Dashboard dialog. If you have already defined a name for an alert in one of your favorites and then change the version or scenario selection of the alert to All Versions or All Scenarios, the name is removed and the text field is deactivated. This function is available as of version 2308.2.0 of the Excel add-in. Public 411 Alert dashboard and planning view favorites – example In the planning view, the cells where the alert threshold is met are highlighted according to your settings in the planning view definition. Public 412 Alert dashboard An alert is only displayed in the alert dashboard if: 1) The planning view which contains the alert key figure definition has been saved as a favorite planning view. 2) The Name in Alert Dashboard (Favorite Views Only) field has been filled. Please note that the alerts in the alert dashboard are constantly recalculated by the system. This can have an impact on the performance. Public 413 17) Task Management Task management • Open tasks that have been assigned to you as part of a process step can be visualized in the Excel add-in. Process, process step details, and progress can be seen as well. Tasks can be grouped and sorted by the following: • • • Process • Priority • Due date Public 415 Task management You can set the status of your tasks to Completed by clicking on the task. If you complete a task, refresh the dialog to make it disappear from the list of tasks. (The process and task-related information is automatically refreshed when you log on to the Excel add-in, but you need to refresh it manually while you are working in your planning view.) You can set the status of your tasks from the Excel add-in as follows: Status of the Task Can It Be Changed in the Excel Add-In? To What Status? Open Yes Completed In Progress Yes Completed Completed No - If you change the status of a task to Completed, and you decide that the task is not completed after all, you can change the status back to Open in the Collaboration app. Similarly, if you have a task in status In Progress, you need to change it back to status Open in the Collaboration app to be able to complete the task in the Excel add-in. Public 416 Process management The processes and tasks that are visible in the Excel add-in are defined and managed using the Manage Processes app. Public 417 Task window in the Excel add-in The Processes and Tasks Dashboard window is a separate window and not a pop-up. It can therefore be arranged within a split window next to the Excel window with the planning view on the same screen (Windows function as of Windows 10). This makes it easier for you to take a look at the tasks and, in parallel, review and change the data to complete the tasks. Public 418 18) Navigation to the Web UI Navigation to the Web UI You can navigate from the Excel add-in to specific SAP Fiori apps on the SAP Fiori launchpad (Web Client). • Home opens the SAP Fiori launchpad. • Collaboration opens the Collaboration SAP Fiori app. • Promotions opens the Analyze Promotions SAP Fiori app. • Manage Planning Notes opens the Manage Planning Notes SAP Fiori app. • Manage Product Lifecycle opens the Product Assignments or Forecast Dates tab of the Manage Product Lifecycle app. Public 420 19) Help, user settings, and more in the About area Help The About area of the Excel add-in provides help and additional information. Connection Speed: ▪ ▪ ▪ About: Know which Excel add-in version is installed Public The server time measures the time for basic database access. The network time measures the time it takes to download a predefined response. The ping time measures the time it takes for a small data package to reach the SAP IBP server until receiving it back (roundtrip). Connection Time Out Check: Checks how long it takes to reach time out and whether the network is set up properly. This feature is designed mainly for administrators and consultants. 422 Help You can open the help that is available on the SAP Help Portal as well as the getting started video hosted on the SAP youtube channel, from the About area of the Excel add-in. • Open SAP IBP Help: opens the application help which has a section for end users as well as a section for administrators. • Open SAP IBP End-User Guide: opens this guide. • Getting Started: opens the getting started video. As of version 2305.2.0, you can also open the detailed help from the respective dialog or field in the Excel add-in by pressing the F1 key. Note: This function doesn't work in all of the dialogs of the Excel add-in, but we're adding new topics continuously. Public 423 Log The SAP IBP log is a technical log that can be used to perform a more detailed error analysis. If you encounter issues with the Excel add-in, your administrator or the SAP support team might ask to provide the log file. You can use the Log Dialog to find the log and trace files that you need, and copy them directly out of the dialog. To open the Log dialog, in the SAP IBP ribbon, in the About group, choose Help -> Log. Public 424 Log Dialog In the Log Dialog, you can see the following information: • The recent lines of the log. If you need to provide the log information to your administrator, or to SAP support, you can copy and paste the text directly out of the dialog. • Technical information about your installed software and environment. • The location of the log files on your computer. By choosing the Open folder… button, you can access the log files directly. You can also copy the file path to your clipboard. In the Log dialog, you can specify in which case the Excel add-in should create logs for your current Microsoft Excel instance. In pervious versions, this required administrator permissions. For more information, see Trace and Log Files in the Excel Add-In. Public 425 Settings Default User Settings (Administrator Settings) User Settings (user-specific settings) The settings are valid for the particular connection (system/planning area combination). You need to make changes changes individually for each connection. The settings are not stored locally on your PC. For more information about the settings, see SAP Help Portal at User Settings. Public 426 Settings – general settings • Language: You can change the language for the Excel add-in. All Excel add-in controls are displayed in the selected language. • Default Display Time: You can decide in which default time zone the dates and times are shown (in the planning operator logs, for example). • File Path for Workbooks: When you open a planning view template or favorite, the workbook is downloaded from the SAP IBP system and stored in a certain folder. From there, it is opened on your PC. This file path determines the storage location. For performance considerations, it is recommended that you specify a file path pointing to a folder on your local PC instead of a folder located on a network drive or shared drive. The default file path is the following: • Documents\SAP_IBP is used before version 2205.2.0. • %Temp%\SAP_IBP is used as of version 2205.2.0. • %localappdata%\SAP_IBP_AddIn\Workbooks is used as of version 2305.2.0. For more information, see Setting Up File Paths for Workbooks, and Setting Up Your Own File Path for Workbooks. Public 427 Settings – default values In the settings, you can set various default values, for example, the default currency and unit of measure. These default values help you to save time when working with planning views. You can set fixed values or define that the value last used is applied. You can also overwrite these values with your user-specific ones in the template planning views. It depends on the configuration of your planning area whether you see the default value fields. If, for example, no key figure is planning note enabled, then the Display Planning Notes field is not visible. The same is true for Collaboration groups or units of measure. Public 428 Settings – display options (1) Show information message for master data workbook: Defines if you get a pop-up when opening a master data workbook with additional instructions. Expand Cascading Filter: Defines if the Cascading Filter dropdown menu (for example, on the Filter tab of the planning view definition) should be automatically expanded. Apply Cascading Filter Automatically: When you select this checkbox, the cascading filter is applied automatically when you open the value help to select attribute values for filter conditions. You don't need to choose Apply manually. This function is available as of version 2305.2.0 of the SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel. Show information about slow connection speeds if response time is more than … miliseconds: If you select this checkbox, and specify a value here, you will be informed about slow response times between your computer and the SAP IBP server as well as a potentially slow network connection. The response time is measured during logon, and combines server and network response times. Show information about the deletion of empty folders: If folders have been created by using the Organize function, and if no entities (templates, favorites, filters, and so on) are assigned to them, the empty folders are deleted when you close the Organize dialog. Public 429 Settings – display options (2) Show up to <number> most used attributes/key figures: • You can see a list of your most used attributes and key figures in multiple places in the Excel add-in. • This short list helps you to quickly see the attributes and key figures that are most relevant to you. You do not need to pick them from a long list of key figures and attributes. • The default value is 5. • Set the value to zero to turn the feature off. • If you reset the user settings by clicking the Reset to Default button, the Excel add-in “forgets” your most used key figures and attributes but learns them again over time. Public 430 Settings – display options (3) If the attributes and key figure list in the planning view settings should use the strong-match group and the light-match group, select the Show Strong and Light Match Groups checkbox. Public 431 Settings – auto-sizing planning notes • If you hover the mouse over a cell containing a planning note, the planning notes are displayed in a standard size that does not display the free text. • The system automatically can increase the size of the boxes, adapting them to the respective free text. • Auto-sizing is only performed if the number of planning notes in the planning view does not exceed the threshold that you have entered in the settings. • The default threshold is 0 (no auto-sizing). • In the example, the threshold is set to 7. This means that autosizing is active if the planning view contains 7 or less planning notes. • Consider that auto-sizing a large number of planning notes can have a significant performance impact. • Note that if you click a cell, the planning note is always displayed in full size. Standard size: Autosized to fit the full text : Public 432 Settings – planning note validation You can decide whether an additional validation step should run when saving planning notes and inform you about invalid changes. Invalid changes can happen if you change an SAP IBP planning note with native Microsoft Excel functions, such as, Edit Note. With or without using the additional check, invalid changes to the planning note are not saved. But with the additional validation check switched on, the system provides you with information in a warning message. So you have a better chance to see that the changes you made to the planning note were invalid and will not be saved. Please note that the additional validation check can have a negative impact on the performance. It can be skipped for users who are familiar with the restriction not to use any Microsoft Excel native notes with SAP IBP planning notes. As a default, the validation is switched on. Public 433 Settings – application jobs Depending on how many planning operators are assigned to your planning area, the list in the Application Jobs group in the Excel add-in ribbon can get rather long. In the Display Operator Types One by One field, you can enter how many planning operators or application jobs are listed. Choose Never if no individual application jobs should be displayed. Choose, for example, Up to 6 to show up to six individual application jobs: If more than 6 application jobs are assigned to your planning area, no application jobs are displayed (same as the Never option). Public 434 Message history In the message history window, you can see all of the warning and error messages you’ve received since your last logon to the SAP IBP system. This is useful if you closed a error/warning pop-up, and want to review the information, or when you face issues and need to inform your administrator. In the second case, you can send a screenshot of the respective warning/error message for further analysis. Public 435 Check backend version Hover the mouse over Help button to show the release of the SAP IBP backend, as well as the Hotfix Collection. This comes in handy when you are asked, for example, by your administrator or by SAP support, which version of the Excel add-in is installed on your PC. Example: SAP Integrated Business Planning 2008.0 means that the backend is SAP IBP release 2008, Hotfix Collection 0 Public 436 20) Logging Off and Troubleshooting Disabled Excel add-ins Comparing disconnect and log off After you have finished your work, you can disconnect or log off from the SAP IBP backend system. Disconnect Log off If you choose this option, you get disconnected from the SAP IBP system without loosing the Remember me settings (depending on the identity provider). Alternatively, you can close all Excel workbooks by clicking Close (X) in the upper right corner. If you choose this option, you get logged off from the system completely. The system “forgets” you, so that you need to enter the user and password next time when you log on again. Use disconnect, for example, if you have left the Excel add-in inactive for too long or if a planning area activation is in progress Public 438 Troubleshooting a disabled Excel add-in If Microsoft Excel “crashes” while working with the Excel add-in, or was ended in an exceptional way, for example, through the task manager, it might start the next time without the Excel add-in that it suspects to have caused the shutdown. In such a case, a pop-up like the following will appear when you start Microsoft Excel: Please select No. If you select Yes, the Excel add-in will be disabled and disappear from the ribbon. You need to manually enable it again. Public 439 How to enable the Excel add-in (1) If the SAP IBP menu has disappeared from the Microsoft Excel ribbon, a likely reason is that it has been disabled. How to enable the Excel add-in: • In Microsoft Excel, choose File → Options → Add-Ins. • Select Manage: COM Add-Ins and choose Go. • Select SAP IBP, add-in for Microsoft Excel and choose OK. Public 440 How to enable the Excel add-in (2) Try starting the Excel add-in via the desktop shortcut or the Windows programs. Please note that this option is only available if your administrator has enabled it. Public 441 Follow us www.sap.com/contactsap © 2023 SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP SE or an SAP affiliate company. The information contained herein may be changed without prior notice. Some software products marketed by SAP SE and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors. National product specifications may vary. 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